CHAPTER XII.
IN THE ATTIC.
There is little to be gained, however, from regrets over lost opportunities, and Meredith, as befitted the daughter of an officer rated one of the most resourceful in the service, turned very speedily from that bootless pursuit to consider what advantage she still might glean from the information which had come her way.
One point she settled without delay; she would not hold to her intention of leaving the roof she was under immediately after breakfast. On the other hand—distasteful as the experience might prove—she would remain until she had successfully ferreted out the true cause of all the mystery which seemed to envelop the place and its occupants. Heedless of her obligations as a guest, she would watch with unremitting vigilance every move of her host and hostess.
A higher law than that of hospitality now demanded her allegiance; for, convinced that Mrs. Schilder was concerned in the colonel’s abduction, or at least friendly to the abductors, she was prepared to cast off all restraints, and stand solely on the principle. “All is fair in war.”
Also she realized that she must communicate her discoveries promptly to Grail. The intelligence might very readily dovetail in with what he already had, and aid him materially in his task.
Therefore, as soon as the morning had sufficiently advanced to make her appearance seem natural to any servants who might be about, she arose, and, leaving Mrs. Schilder still soundly asleep, hastened to her own room, with the idea of dressing, and proceeding to the nearest telephone station. There were telephones in the house, of course, but she did not care to use any of them at the risk of being overheard.
On arriving at the chamber she had left in such panic the night before, she looked vainly about for the frock she had taken off, which, owing to the haste of her departure from Chicago, was the only one she had brought with her.
Hurriedly she rang the bell to summon Marie, and institute inquiries.
“Pardon, ma’mselle.” The maid shrugged her shoulders. “Ze skirt had rubbed against ze w’eel of ze motor, and was in a condition deplorable—all covered wiz grease and dust down ze side. I took ze liberty, ma’mselle, to have eet sent to ze cleanair’s, and eet weel not be back before twelve o’clock. Naturally, I did not anticipate zat ma’mselle would arise so early.”
Meredith gave a gasp. She herself had not noticed that the dress was soiled on removing it, although she was fair enough to admit that in her preoccupation at that time she might have overlooked even more serious damage. Still, that was not the point. Was she to be held prisoner for any such absurd cause until noon?
“But I wish to go out, Marie,” she expostulated, “now, at once! You must get me something to wear.”
The girl again shrugged helplessly. “Pardon once more, ma’mselle, but Madame Schildair’s figure is so tall and slendair zat I fear eet would be impossible for ma’mselle to wear any of her gowns. Her waist ees only twenty-two inch, w’ereas ma’mselle”—she cast a calculating glance—“must be fully twenty-six.”
“Then get me something of yours,” it was on Meredith’s lips to demand; “something of somebody’s, if even only a raincoat to cover me with.” But she checked herself in time. It would not do to attach too much importance to her errand; already Marie was beginning to eye her curiously.
“Very well, then,” she said carelessly. “I suppose I shall simply have to wait. Fortunately, it does not make any especial difference.”
After all, the thought had struck her, there would be very little risk in telephoning from the house, provided she used the main instrument in the library downstairs, and saw to it that all the extensions were switched off.
But when, with this project in view, she repaired to the library, she found, to her disgust, that Schilder was ensconced there, going over some papers, and she had to fabricate a hasty and rather feeble excuse to account for her intrusion.
Moreover, a second visit, a half hour later, found him still there; and when a third trip revealed him seemingly anchored to his chair, and she ventured to inquire, in a casual way, what time he usually departed for business, he informed her, rather shortly, that he was not going to the office that morning. He had matters to attend to at home.
A messenger call box in the hall seemed to offer her recourse, and, grasping at the suggestion, she gave the handle a twist which almost jerked it off; then hastened to her room to write a note to Grail.
But, with the note finished, the slow minutes passed without any response to her ring, until it seemed certain that even the most tortoiselike messenger ought to have arrived, and she started an investigation, only to learn that the boy had come and been sent away again, since she had failed to apprise the man at the door of having sent in a call.
Swallowing her chagrin as best she could, she gave another twist to the knob, and this time not only gave notice of her action, but seated herself at the window to watch for the messenger.
Presently a blue-uniformed boy hove in sight down the street, and turned his bicycle into the drive leading up to the door. Meredith, note in hand, lost no time in getting downstairs; but it was only to see the servant on guard turning back from the entrance.
“Boy hasn’t showed up yet, ma’am,” he assured her unfalteringly. “Wonderful how long them little rascals does take sometimes to get around.”
Meredith realized now, with a sick feeling, what she had begun to suspect for an hour or more past—that she was being deliberately thwarted and baffled in her attempts to communicate with Grail, probably under instructions from Mrs. Schilder herself.
The incident of the dress, the palpable falsehood in regard to the coming of the messenger boy; more than all, the constant if unobtrusive surveillance exercised by Marie, all assured her that she was making no mistake. Now that she came to think of it, she could not recall a time that morning when the maid, with her sly, watchful eyes, had not been hovering close at hand, apparently absorbed inher duties, yet always in a position to note everything that Meredith might do.
Did it mean, then, that she was to be cut off from all intercourse with the outside world? If she should assert herself, and insist on using the telephone, would the polite evasions and lies she had hitherto met change to harsher and more restrictive measures?
For a moment she was tempted to put the matter to the test; then, with more sober second thought, she decided to wait. To provoke a scene at this juncture, or to display any undue eagerness to get away, would be but to disclose her hand to Mrs. Schilder. It was not by force, but by craft, and a pretense of innocence, that she must undermine her wily antagonist. She must match her wits against those of the other woman and overcome.
Suddenly, like a flash of inspiration, there came to her mind the recollection of the wireless telephone apparatus which her father had once rigged up for experimental purposes in the attic of this very house. The colonel had become very friendly with Otto Schilder, and, being an enthusiastic electrician, had suggested the installation of the wireless apparatus, with which they might hold experimental conversations, and had forthwith secured the instruments and arranged them in the Schilders’ attic. Meredith was not especially interested in such experiments, but she had often seen her father use the apparatus at the fort, and believed she could manage it in such an emergency.
The door leading up to the attic from the third floor was unlocked, but how to escape the sharp espionage of Marie presented a difficulty, and after vainly trying a number of ruses, she almost despaired of accomplishing it, until at last, about noon, hope was revived by the ringing of a bell summoning Marie to her mistress.
The maid who took her place on guard, a stupid sort of girl, Meredith had little difficulty in disposing of; then, the coast clear at last, she hurried to the floor above.
The place, lighted only from above by small skylights, stretched away, dim and shadowy, into the recesses and corners under the eaves. There were boxes and packing cases all around, behind which anything might be lurking. The silence, too, was a little fearsome; the only sound to break the stillness was the buzzing of a fly.
Meredith did not falter long, however, but turned to the business before her, and, lightly threading her way between the boxes, reached the table, with its black cabinet on top, and the wires running up to the mast on the roof.
Instrument, table and all were covered with the dust of long disuse, but when she had slipped the receiver on over her ears, and had touched a knob or two on the box, she was delighted to find that the instrument had lost none of its efficiency.