Part 15 (1/2)
”Gone! gone!” the others heard him mutter hoa.r.s.ely. ”Gone!”
”What is it?” asked Mr. Porter.
”The casket-the Carwith casket is gone!” And Mr. Wadsworth looked ready to faint as he spoke.
”Were the jewels in it?” questioned Mr. Porter.
”Yes! yes!”
”All of them?” queried Dave.
”Yes, every one. I placed them in the casket myself before we locked up for the day.”
”Maybe the casket is on the floor, under the doors,” suggested Dave; but he had little hope of such being the case.
All started a search, lasting for several minutes. But it was useless, the casket with its precious jewelry had disappeared. Oliver Wadsworth tottered to a chair that Phil placed for him and sank heavily upon it.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”THE CASKET-THE CARWITH CASKET IS GONE!”-Page 96.]
”Gone!” he muttered, in a strained voice. ”Gone! And if I cannot recover it, I shall be ruined!”
CHAPTER XI-LOOKING FOR THE ROBBERS
All in the offices listened with interest to Oliver Wadsworth's words.
”The jewels were probably what the rascals were after,” was Mr. Porter's comment. ”Evidently they did not touch any of the gold plate or silverware.”
”That shows they must have known the jewels were here,” said Dunston Porter.
”Couldn't they find out about them from the workmen?” questioned Dave.
”I suppose so-although it is a rule of the works for the men to keep silent regarding precious stones. No one but myself and the general manager are supposed to know just what we have on hand.”
”We must get busy and see if we cannot follow the robbers!” cried David Porter. ”No use in wasting time here now. Let us scatter in all directions. One can go to the railroad station and the others to the roads leading out of town. We may pick up some clew.”
”The police, we'll have to notify them!” said Roger.
”Yes! yes! Call the police up on the telephone!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mr.
Wadsworth, starting to his feet.
Dave ran to the end of the office, where a telephone rested on a stand.
The shock of the explosion had severed the wires.
”It's out of commission,” he said. ”I'll have to use the one in the s.h.i.+pping-room.”
He left the offices, and made his way through two of the workrooms. Phil went with him and so did Roger.