“I saw you from the library window, Nick,” he cried, upon drawing nearer. “What brought you here? I’ve been trying vainly to get you by telephone. I was told that you left the Willard before breakfast.” “So I did,” Nick replied, shaking hands with him. “I was called out on a rather curious case. But what do you want of me, Senator Barclay, and why are you so disturbed?” he added tentatively. “I have cause to be disturbed, most serious cause,” Senator Barclay answered, with an effort to govern his feelings. “I will tell you of that a little later. My house has been robbed--a most amazing robbery.” “Why amazing, senator?” “Judge for yourself. Every piece of my clothing, removed when I went to bed last night, was carried away by the thief. Shoes, stockings, underwear, shirt, and outside garments--not a piece was left behind by the rascal. Why he took such articles is more than I can fathom. Why he----” “One moment,” Nick interposed, with a furtive glance at Patsy. “Did he take anything else of value?” “I should say he did,” Senator Barclay cried impetuously. “My pocketbook containing several hundred dollars, my diamond pin worth nearly a thousand, my watch and chain--all of them went with the garments.” “H’m, I see.” “Not content with them, moreover, the rascal robbed the sleeping room of my daughter Estella, and got away with considerable money and a quantity of costly jewelry, which unfortunately had not been put in the library safe.” “Your loss will aggregate, then----” “Ten thousand dollars, at least, as far as the plunder goes. But that is nothing, absolutely nothing, Nick, compared with the loss of one other article,” Senator Barclay said, with a groan. “One other article?” Nick echoed, gazing at his white face. “What is that?” “I cannot tell you--not here,” was the reply. “I must talk with you privately. Come to the house. Stella is nearly prostrated, but she does not dream of my distress and anxiety. I have hidden the truth from her, even, and can confide only in you, Nick. For you are the one man on whom I can depend, who may be able to successfully meet the situation. Come to the house. I then will inform you.” “Very well,” Nick consented. “I understand, now, why you were so anxious to reach me.” “I was more than anxious, more than anxious,” Senator Barclay repeated, while Nick and Patsy accompanied him toward the house. “There is another mysterious feature in connection with this robbery, Nick; one that seems utterly inexplicable.” “What is that?” Nick inquired. “The thief, or thieves, as the case may be, left a soiled sheet in the butler’s pantry, which they entered by breaking the window and unlocking it. The pantry is so shut in that the noise was not heard. The robbery was not discovered until Estella awoke early this morning and found that her room had been entered. Why the burglars had a soiled sheet, which looks as if it had been through a war, puzzled me even more than----”