"Only a little drop,"she pleaded."You look so cold.""Surely you forget what I told you?"Mrs.Wagner interposed."Wine first excites,and then stupefies him.The last time I tried it,he was as dull and heavy as if I had given him laudanum.I thought I mentioned it to you."She turned to Jack."You look sadly tired,my poor little man.Go to bed at once.""Without the key?"cried Jack indignantly."I hope I know my duty better than that."Mr.Keller returned,perfectly satisfied with the result of his investigation."I knew it!"he said."The mistake is on the side of our clients;I have sent them the proof of it."He handed back the key to Mrs.Wagner.She at once transferred it to Jack.Mr.Keller shook his head in obstinate disapproval."Would you run such a risk as that?"he said to Madame Fontaine,speaking in French."Ishould be afraid,"she replied in the same language.Jack secured the key in his bag,kissed his mistress's hand,and approached the door on his way to bed."Won't you wish me good-night?"said the amiable widow."Ididn't know whether German or English would do for you,"Jack answered;"and I can't speak your unknown tongue.
He made one of his fantastic bows,and left the room."Does he understand French?"Madame Fontaine asked."No,"said Mrs.Wagner;"he only understood that you and Mr.Keller had something to conceal from him."In due course of time the little party at the supper-table rose,and retired to their rooms.The first part of the night passed as tranquilly as usual.But,between one and two in the morning,Mrs.Wagner was alarmed by a violent beating against her door,and a shrill screaming in Jack's voice."Let me in!I want a light--I've lost the keys!"She called out to him to be quiet,while she put on her dressing-gown,and struck a light.They were fortunately on the side of the house occupied by the offices,the other inhabited bedchambers being far enough off to be approached by a different staircase.Still,in the silence of the night,Jack's reiterated cries of terror and beatings at the door might possibly reach the ears of a light sleeper.She pulled him into the room and closed the door again,with an impetuosity that utterly confounded him."Sit down there,and compose yourself!"she said sternly.
"I won't give you the light until you are perfectly quiet.You disgrace _me_if you disturb the house."Between cold and terror,Jack shuddered from head to foot."May Iwhisper?"he asked,with a look of piteous submission.
Mrs.Wagner pointed to the last living embers in the fireplace.She knew by experience the tranquilizing influence of giving him something to do.
"Rake the fire together,"she said;"and warm yourself first."He obeyed,and then laid himself down in his dog-like way on the rug.Aquarter of an hour,at least,passed before his mistress considered him to be in a fit state to tell his story.There was little or nothing to relate.He had put his bag under his pillow as usual;and (after a long sleep)he had woke with a horrid fear that something had happened to the keys.He had felt in vain for them under the pillow,and all over the bed,and all over the floor."After that,"he said,"the horrors got hold of me;and I am afraid I went actually mad,for a little while.I'm all right now,if you please.See!I'm as quiet as a bird with its head under its wing."Mrs.Wagner took the light,and led the way to his little room,close by her own bedchamber.She lifted the pillow--and there lay the leather bag,exactly where he had placed it when he went to bed.
Jack's face,when this discovery revealed itself,would have pleaded for mercy with a far less generous woman than Mrs.Wagner.She took his hand.
"Get into bed again,"she said kindly;"and the next time you dream,try not to make a noise about it."No!Jack refused to get into bed again,until he had been heard in his own defense.He dropped on his knees,and held up his clasped hands,as if he was praying.
"When you first taught me to say my prayers,"he answered,"you said God would hear me.As God hears me now Mistress,I was wide awake when I put my hand under the pillow--and the bag was not there.Do you believe me?"Mrs.Wagner was strongly impressed by the simple fervor of this declaration.It was no mere pretense,when she answered that she did believe him.At her suggestion,the bag was unstrapped and examined.Not only the unimportant keys (with another one added to their number)but the smaller key which opened her desk were found safe inside."We will talk about it to-morrow,"she said.Having wished him good-night,she paused in the act of opening the door,and looked at the lock.There was no key in it,but there was another protection in the shape of a bolt underneath."Did you bolt your door when you went to bed?"she asked.
"No."
The obvious suspicion,suggested by this negative answer,crossed her mind.
"What has become of the key of your door?"she inquired next.
Jack hung his head."I put it along with the other keys,"he confessed,"to make the bag look bigger."Alone again in her own room,Mrs.Wagner stood by the reanimated fire,thinking.
