“It’s packed, too. That means they intend to leave soon. Kitty, we’ll have to keep our wits about us now. And the first thing to do is to get away from this room, before we’re caught.” The girls had talked so rapidly and in such a low tone that Etta had not heard them, but now as she sensed that they were about to leave, she began to sob again. Doris dropped down on the bed and took her hand. “You mustn’t cry,” she declared. “We’re only going away for a little while.” “You’ll come back tomorrow?” “Yes, and you must be careful not to say anything about having seen us. If you do, we may not be able to come.” “I won’t tell,” Etta promised solemnly. Hastily saying goodbye, the girls slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the second floor. As they entered their own room they could hear Cora and Henry Sully moving about on the floor below. “They certainly finished their housecleaning quickly enough,” Kitty observed. Doris took care to close the door and then, dropping down on the bed beside her chum, regarded her soberly. “It’s my candid opinion that was only an excuse, Kit. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were hunting for something in the Misses Gates’s rooms.” “But what?” “That’s what I’d like to know. Say! You don’t suppose it could have been those two envelopes he put in his suitcase?” “It might have been.” “Why didn’t we look in the suitcase when we were there? If Cora and Henry are stealing, we ought to know it!” “We wouldn’t have discovered much if we had looked,” Kitty declared. “I noticed those envelopes were sealed.” “Yes, that’s so. We really haven’t any excuse for opening sealed envelopes. If we did, it would be just our luck that whatever it was belonged to Henry after all.” “He was up to some mischief today, Dory. You remember how guilty he looked when we met him on the stairs. And he’s the laziest man alive. It isn’t likely he’d start out to clean house unless he had been told to do it.” “No, he was hunting for something, all right. I wonder if it could have been—” She did not finish, for Kitty caught her by the hand and dragged her from the bed. “The ruby ring!” she exclaimed. “Maybe that was what they were after!” Anxiously she felt under the mattress and when her hand failed to touch the box, began to paw frantically at the blankets to get them out of the way. “Here, don’t tear that bed to pieces,” Doris scolded. “Let me find the ring.” She ran her hand under the mattress and to Kitty’s intense relief, brought forth the tiny box. “I wish the Misses Gates had taken their ring,” she sighed. “I’ve lost five pounds since we started looking after it.” “The ring is the least of my troubles just now,” Doris told her. “I’m convinced that Henry and Cora are involved in a plot against the Misses Gates, but just what it is I haven’t been able to fathom.” “Hadn’t we better tell the ladies everything?”