Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1916)

78 The Catspaw love, for she had seen the man she loved, and who she thought was Kitt, making daily calls on the Pagets. She could find no necessity for it, save that he no longer cared for her. This idea was enlarged in her mind by the fact that she had seen little of him since her arrival in Milville. Therefore, she determined to take him to task about it that evening, when she should see him at a dinner Mrs. Shackleton was to give in honor of her birthday. Yet, when Rokane arrived there, Kitt was not at the house. She asked for him casually, and received the crushing response that he was not going to be present, as he had accepted an invitation with the Pagets for a week-end at their country home. All Rokane's passion rose to the surface. It was plain enough he cared no more for her than if she had been a stranger. This empty-headed little debutante had driven all this love for her out of his head. Here she was, she thought, standing by him, shielding him, trying to aid him in a scheme to clean out the well-filled pockets and safes of Milville, and instead of thanking her for it he was spending his time with some new creature, some fairer flower! She* would get even with him, even if she had to betray him. That night, while they were all at dinner, the Shackleton maid suddenly screamed for help, and then came running into the dining room crying that the house had been robbed. She explained that she had gone into the dressing room just in time to see a man helping himself to Mrs. Shackleton's necklace from the open wall safe. And the man — she swore it was Kittredge St. John! Rokane staggered to her feet, her face pale and her hands twitching nervously. She wondered if this was the end. Mrs. Shackleton, after assuring herself that the jewels were really gone, and that the thief had disappeared, fainted. Yarnum called the police. Bonwit went for water for Rokane. Only Major Holbrook had presence of mind. "Get Asbury Park on the wire — the Pagets !" he ordered. "We'll see if he is there or not. This is all uncanny!" A moment later, to the amazement of all, they heard Kitt's calm voice over the wire asking who wanted to talk to him. Yarnum looked at Bonwit in amazement. "It isn't natural !" he exclaimed under his breath. "Even this servant couldn't have been mistaken altogether." But he kept his counsel, and determined to investigate a little himself. ''Mr. St. John is there, all right, that's certain," he said to the guests, after hanging up the receiver ; "and, what is more, he has given me some very good news. I am sure we are all glad to hear that he has just announced his engagement to the youngest daughter of Senator Paget — Dorothy." At that instant, Rokane made up her mind. She rose abruptly and went home. Within an hour she had written two letters which would carry her plan to a finish. One went to Kitt, telling him to go to the Paget house the next night, as some important plans she had made depended on his doing this. The second went to the chief of police, telling him he should watch the Paget house the next night if he would catch the robber they were all seeking. Kitt's capture, his indictment, and the efforts made to get him to confess, were all matters of a few hours. Milville had never been in such a seething pool of excitement. Rokane sat back quietly to enjoy her triumph ; Dorothy Paget was prostrated ; Yarnum patted himself on the back as having suspected something when the Shackleton house was robbed. As for Kitt, he resisted all efforts to wring a confession from