“C. Q.”; or, In the Wireless House
The reading-room steward touched his cap smilingly as he handed it to her. Impatiently she tore open the paper.
“Government inspectors wise to your necklace.”
She stared at it helplessly. Wise to her necklace! How could they? Her necklace? Impossible! It was just a joke of Trevelyan’s! No, he never would have taken that amount of trouble for a joke! The Roakby affair faded out of her mind under the stress of this new and unexpected complication! She set her lips indignantly. She was sure the Government could n’t treat its citizens in any such despicable fashion. Trevelyan was a ninny,—an old woman! What did he mean by wiring her? Was it to advise her to declare the necklace and make herself liable to a duty of some thirty thousand dollars, or was it simply to give her the tip that extra precautions would be necessary to smuggle it safely in? That was it probably. Why, he ’d whine for six months if he had to pay all that money! And he ’d make her life miserable into the bargain. She crumpled the paper in her hand and tossed it into the scrap basket—where it was promptly found121
