"How did it happen?"
"Well—I got interested in a book."
"What book?"
Mrs. Batten put a distracted hand to her brow. "Let me see—my poor wits! Oh, yes, it was called 'The Light That Failed.'"
No muscle of Mme. Storey's face changed. "Ah! An admirable story! I know it well! What I particularly admire is the opening chapter, where the young man steps out of the clock case and confronts the thief in the act of rifling the safe."
"I thought that a little overdrawn," said Mrs. Batten.
I gasped inwardly. I could scarcely believe my ears. Our dear, gentle little old lady was lying like a trooper, and Mme. Storey had trapped her. For, of course, as everybody knows, there is no such scene in "The Light That Failed."
Mme. Storey went right on: "Please tell me exactly what happened when Mrs. Po
