There was a sudden puffing of an auto, and presently Mrs. Bancroft herself, in a smaller car than the wrecked one, was driven into the group by one of the employees of her husband's estate. As gently as possible, after first explanations had been made, Jess broke the news to her. Mrs. Bancroft, a tall, stately woman, went white as she heard.
"One of those jewels, a ruby, was an heirloom that has been in the family for years," she exclaimed. "I would not have lost it for all the others. Has every place been searched thoroughly?"
"Bin over ther ground with a fine tooth comb, mum," said the uncouth Gid.
Mrs. Bancroft raised her lorgnette and regarded the unabashed Gid with a look tinged with some disgust. But Gid merely showed his yellow fangs, in what he intended to be a pleasant smile, in reply, and lifted his hat with clumsy gallantry.
"What was the last you saw of the jewels?" asked Mrs. Bancroft of her daughter, after Jess had been tenderly carried to the other auto and made comfortable.
"It was just before we started down the hill," was the reply. "I felt to see if it was safe under the seat just before the car got away from me."
"Then they were there just before the accident, of course," put in Mrs. Bancroft. "And now they are missing in this mysterious way."
"Well, they couldn't have walked off," said Fan; "somebody may have taken them while you were unconscious. Unless----"
He stopped and glanced at Roy, who felt his face flushing angrily. There had been a queer intonation in Fan Harding's tones.
"Unless what?" put in Jess, looking at Fan Harding directly in the eyes. His dropped under the scrutiny of the straightforward girl.
"I suppose you mean unless I took them," struck in Roy, angrily. There was a hard note of defiance in his tones which sounded strange there.
Fan Harding glanced at him quickly and then said in a low voice:
"Well, it does look odd, you know, and----"
"Don't dare to say another word like that!"
Peggy, her soft eyes blazing, stepped forward before Mrs. Bancroft could stop her. Gid Gibbon's daughter watched the angry girl with a contemptuous smile. But Fan Harding went white and shrank back.
"I--I didn't mean anything," he stammered.
"Children! Children!" exclaimed Mrs. Bancroft, "no more of this. It seems that there is a mystery here, and perhaps some day it will be solved. But in the meantime I wish no suspicion, or doubt even, cast on any one."