Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE DERELICT "didn't you find anything, Tom?" Ruth Fielding asked, as Helen's twin re-entered the summer- house. His long automobile coat glistened with wet and his face was wind-blown. Tom Cameron's face, too, looked much older than it had—well, say a year before. He, like Ruth herself, had been through much in the war zone calculated to make him more sedate and serious than a college undergraduate is supposed to be. "I did not see even a piece of paper blowing about," he told her. "But before we came down from the house you said you saw a paper blow over the roof like a kite." "That was an outspread newspaper. It was not a sheet of your manuscript." "Then it all must have been stolen I" she cried. "At least, human agency must have removed the things you left on this table," he said. "Oh, Tom I" "Now, now, Ruth ! It's tough, I know- But she recovered a measure of her composure almost immediately. Unnerved as she had first been by the disaster, she realized that to give way to her trouble would not do the least bit of good. "An ordinary thief," Tom suggested after a moment, "would not consider your notes and the play of much value." "I suppose not," she replied. "If they are stolen it must be by somebody who understands—or thinks he does—the value of the work. Somebody who thinks he can sell a moving picture scenario." "Oh, Tom I" "A gold mounted fountain pen would attract any petty thief," he went on to say. "But surely the itching fingers of such a person would not be tempted by that scenario." "Then, which breed of thief stole my scenario, Tom?" she demanded. "You are no detective, [Your deductions suggest two thieves." "Humph 1 So they do. Maybe they run in pairs. But I can't really imagine two light- fingered p...