It was a splendid one , and the Carroll house came out clear , with the front door and the steps in full view . And there , just in the act of stepping from the threshold , was the figure of a boy with an old straw hat on his head and -- in his hand -- the pocketbook ! He was standing with his head turned towards the corner of the house as if listening , with one hand holding his ragged coat open and the other poised in mid-air with the pocketbook , as if he were just going to put it in his inside pocket . The whole scene was as clear as noonday , and nobody with eyes in his head could have failed to recognize Ned Brooke . `` Goodness ! '' I gasped . `` In with it -- quick ! '' And we doused the thing into the fixing bath and then sat down breathlessly and looked at each other . `` I say , Amy , '' said Cecil , `` what a sell this will be on the Carrolls ! Ned Brooke could n't do such a thing -- oh , no ! The poor injured boy at whom everyone has such an unlawful pick ! I wonder if this will convince them . '' `` Do you think they can get it all back ? '' I asked . `` It 's not likely he would have dared to use any of it yet . '' `` I do n't know . We 'll have a try , anyhow . How long before this plate will be dry enough to carry down to the Carrolls as circumstantial evidence ? '' `` Three hours or thereabouts , '' I answered , `` but perhaps sooner . I 'll take two prints off when it is ready .
I wonder what the XXXXX will say . ''
Amy Brooke Carroll Carrolls Cecil figure hours house noonday threshold