"But what has Jeems
been up to?"
Val was suddenly very busy holding her cape before that mockery of a
blaze.
"Why don't you ask him that?"
"Because I'm asking you. Rupert came over last night and sat on my
gallery making very roundabout inquiries concerning Jeems. I pried out
of him the details of your swamp battle. But I want to know now just
what Jeems has been doing. Your brother is so vague--"
"Rupert has the gift of being exasperatingly uncommunicative," his
brother told her. "The story, so far as I know, is short and simple.
Jeems knows a secret way into this house. In addition, his grandfather
told him that the fortune of the house of Jeems is concealed
here--having been very hazy in his description of the nature of said
fortune. Consequently, grandson has been playing haunt up and down our
halls trying to find it.
"His story is as full of holes as a sieve but somehow one can't help
believing it. He has explained that he has the secret of the outside
entrance only, and not the one opening from the inside. In the meantime
he is in bed--guarded from intrusion by Ricky and Lucy with the same
care as if he were the crown jewels. So matters rest at present."
"Neatly put." She dropped down on the couch. "By the way, do you realize
that you have ruined your face for my uses?"
Val fingered the crisscrossing tape on his cheek. "This is only
temporary.
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