I was in a desperate hurry , for I knew Cecil 's horse did not like to be kept waiting , so I never even glanced at the house , but snatched off the cap , counted two and replaced it . Then I took out my plate , put it in the holder and gathered up my traps . I suppose I was about five minutes at it all and I had my back to the house the whole time , and when I laid all my things ready and emerged from my retreat , there was nobody to be seen about the place . As I hurried up through the lawn , I noticed Ned Brooke walking at a smart pace down the lane , but the fact did not make any particular impression on me at the time , and was not recalled until afterwards . Cecil was waiting for me , so I got in the buggy and we drove off . On arriving home I shut myself up in my dark room and proceeded to develop the first two negatives of the Carroll housestead . They were both excellent , the first one being a trifle the better , so that I decided to finish from it . I intended also to develop the third , but just as I finished the others , a half-dozen city cousins swooped down upon us and I had to put away my paraphernalia , emerge from my dark retreat and fly around to entertain them . The next day Cecil came in and said : `` Did you hear , Amy , that Mr. Carroll has lost a pocketbook with five hundred dollars in it ? '' `` No ! '' I exclaimed . `` How ? When ? Where ? '' `` Do n't overwhelm a fellow . I can answer only one question -- last night . As to the ` how , ' they do n't know , and as to the ` where ' -- well , if they knew that , there might be some hope of finding it . The girls are in a bad way . The money was to get them their longed-for piano , it seems , and now it 's gone . '' `` But how did it happen , Cecil ? ''
`` Well , Mr. Carroll says that Mrs. Carroll handed the pocketbook back to him at the gate yesterday , and he dropped it in the inside pocket XXXXX his over-coat -- '' `` I saw him do it , '' I cried .
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