"I had it on when I went into my room," she declared, "and I put it on

the dressing table when I undressed. I meant to put it under my pillow,

but I forgot. And I didn't sleep well; I was awake half the night.

Wasn't I, Dal? Then, when the clock downstairs in the hall was chiming

five, something roused me, and I sat up in bed. It was still dark, but I

pinched Dal and said there was somebody in the room. You remember that,

don't you, Dal?"

"I thought you had nightmare," he said sheepishly.

"I lay still for ages, it seemed to me, and then--the door into the

hall closed. I heard the catch click. I turned on the light over the bed

then, and the room was empty. I thought of my collar, and although it

seemed ridiculous, with the house sealed as it is, and all of us friends

for years--well, I got up and looked, and it was gone!"

No one spoke for an instant. It WAS a queer situation, for the collar

was gone; Anne's red eyes showed it was true. And there we stood, every

one of us a miserable picture of guilt, and tried to look innocent and

debonair and unsuspicious. Finally Jim held up his hand and signified

that he wanted to say something.

"It's like this," he said, "until this thing is cleared up, for Heaven's

sake, let's try to be sane! If every fellow thinks the other fellow

did it, this house will be a nice little hell to live in. And if

anybody"--here he glared around--"if anybody has got funny and is hiding

those jewels, I want to say that he'd better speak up now. Later, it

won't be so easy for him. It's a mighty poor joke."

But nobody spoke.




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