“What in the nation are you prowlin' around this hour of the night for? You don't want to talk about those divilish bills and credits and things, I hope. What's the use? Talkin' don't help none! Jumpin' fire! I went to bed so's to forget 'em and I was just beginnin' to do it. Now you--” Zoeth held up his hand. “Sshh! sshh!” he whispered. “Hush, Shadrach! I didn't come to talk about those things. Shadrach, there's--there's somethin' queer goin' on. Get up!” The Captain was out of bed in a moment. “What's the matter?” he demanded, in a whisper. “What's queer?” “I--I don't exactly know. I heard somebody movin' downstairs and--” Shadrach grunted. “Isaiah!” he exclaimed. “Walkin' in his sleep again, I'll bet a dollar!” “No, no! It ain't Isaiah. Isaiah ain't walked in his sleep since he was a child.” “Well, he's pretty nigh his second childhood now, judgin' by the way he acts sometimes. It was Isaiah of course! Who else would be walkin' around downstairs this time of night?” “That's what I thought, so I went and looked. Shadrach, it was Mary-'Gusta. Hush! Let me tell you! She had her things on, hat and all, and she took the lantern and lit it and went out.” “Went OUT!” “Yes, and--and up the road. Now, where--?” Shadrach's answer was to stride to the window, pull aside the shade and look out. Along the lane in the direction of the village a fiery spark was bobbing. “There she goes now,” he muttered. “She's pretty nigh to the corner already. What in the world can she be up to? Where is she bound--at twelve o'clock?” Zoeth did not answer. His partner turned and looked at him. “Humph!” he exclaimed. “Why don't you tell me the whole of it while you're about it? You're keepin' somethin' back. Out with it! Do YOU know where she's bound?” Zoeth looked troubled--and guilty. “Why, no, Shadrach,” he faltered, “I don't know, but--but I kind of suspect. You see, she--she did the same thing last night.” “She DID! And you never said a word?” “I didn't know what to say. I heard her go and I looked out of the window and saw her. She come back about three. I thought sure she'd speak of it this mornin', but she didn't and--and--But tonight I watched again and--Shadrach, she's taken the store keys. Anyhow, they're gone from the nail.” The Captain wiped his forehead. “She's gone to the store, then,” he muttered. “Jumpin'! That's a relief, anyhow. I was afraid--I didn't know--Whew! I don't know WHAT I didn't know! But what on earth has she gone to the store for? And last night too, you say?” “Yes. Shadrach, I've been thinkin' and all I can think of is that--that--” “Well--what?” “That--that she suspicions how things are with us--somebody that does suspicion has dropped a hint and she has--has gone up to--” “To do what? Chuck it overboard! Speak it out! To do what?” “To look at the books or somethin'. She knows the combination of the safe, you recollect.”