She was on the first step and the elevation
gave precisely the height that my sister ought to have received
in the accident of birth. She would have been wonderful with
those four inches added - lacking beauty, she had every other
grace!
She spoke to me as I approached.
"Winthrop," she said, "what was in the package that Madame Barras
carried away with her tonight?"
The query very greatly surprised me. I thought Madame Barras had
carried this package away with her several evenings before when I
had put her English bank-notes in my box at the local bank. My
sister added the explanation which I should have been embarrassed
to seek, at the moment.
"She asked me to put it somewhere, on Tuesday afternoon . . . .
It was forgotten, I suppose . . . . I laid it in a drawer of the
library table . . . . What did it contain?"
I managed an evasive reply, for the discovery opened
possibilities that disturbed me.
"Some certificates, I believe," I said.
My sister made a little pretended gesture of dismay.
"I should have been more careful; such things are of value."
Of value indeed! The certificates in Madame Barras' package,
that had lain about on the library table, were gold certificates
of the United States Treasury - ninety odd of them, each of a
value of one thousand dollars! My sister went:
"How oddly life has tossed her about .
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73