As things turned out, the part I played at the dinner was merely that of a wholly unimportant spectator. The cue that called me upon the stage wasn’t given me until several hours later. Neither during the dinner nor after it did I have a moment alone with her. I had a little talk with Punch, though, and got one curious piece of information from him. That this happened was due to our somewhat too prompt arrival at The Oaks. Belden had taken old Mr. Smith up-stairs to show him his room, and the boy, who was the first one of The Oaks party to appear in the drawing-room, seated himself on the arm of the easy chair where the butler had deposited me, and brought his report down to date. “Have you still got it?” I asked. He patted his trousers pocket confidentially. “I didn’t forget to change it when I changed my clothes,” he told me, “and I bolted my door and hung my coat on the door-knob. So nobody knows where it is. Mother thinks it’s still in the safe. I don’t know what I’ll do about it to-night, though, after I’ve gone to bed. Sleep with my trousers on, I expect. Unless grandmother has me give it back to her before then.” “Have you any idea that she means to?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “of course you never can tell about Gran. She called me into her room again just now and asked me if it was safe, and if I had it hidden where I could get it when it was wanted. I said I could. She’s coming down to dinner to-night, you know, and she may spring something. I’ll be all ready if she does.” He grinned and added, “It certainly will be a surprise for mother.” “How do you know she thinks it’s in the safe?” I asked. He hesitated, and I didn’t know for a minute whether he meant to answer. His pride over what he felt to be a sound piece of reasoning, and his wish to see whether or not I would follow it prevailed over any other feelings he may have had. “It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I figured it out from Digs. You see, early this morning when I showed her that the necklace was back, she was awfully excited and said she thought I’d taken it for a joke--because I hated her, she said. She didn’t mean that really--it was just because she was upset--and she came around later and said she was sorry. So that was all right. “But this afternoon just before they had the wedding rehearsal Digs was all stirred up again. I saw she was acting sort of reproachful toward me, so I asked her what the matter was, and she said she didn’t think it was fair of me to have told mother about her knowing the combination to the safe. She said she wasn’t supposed to know it, only she had to in order to tell grandmother what it was when she forgot. “Well, of course, I hadn’t told mother that Digs knew the combination. I hadn’t told anybody but you and Mr. Smith. And I told Digs I hadn’t told mother. And then, because it seemed kind of funny, I asked Digs what made her think I had.