.

.

Nobody on the wire!" He set the telephone back on the desk with a bewildered air.
"That's queer!" he exclaimed.

"I could have sworn I heard it ring twice, and--" He stopped abruptly, and, leaning across the desk, hung there, wide-eyed, staring, while a sickly pallor began to steal into his face.
"The letter!" he mumbled wildly.

"The letter--Master Jim's letter--the letter--it's GONE!" Trembling, excited, the old man began to search the desk, then down on his knees on the floor under it; and then, growing more frantic with every instant, rose and began to hunt around the room in an agitated, aimless fashion.
Jason's distress was very real--he was almost beside himself now with fear and anxiety.