At the sound of the maid's scream, Kathleen ran into Gerald's room.
"What's wrong?"
"One minute Gerald was gone!" said Eliza.
"The next minute he was in the bed!
I don't know what's wrong with me.
Yesterday I was hearing voices, and now this."
Eliza shook her head as she left the room.
"What happened?" Kathleen asked Gerald.
"The ring came off when Eliza called me.
I'm hungry. I'll tell you everything later."
After breakfast Gerald remembered he'd left the ring in bed.
But when he went upstairs, Eliza had already made his bed.
He asked her about the ring.
"I didn't see anything," she said.
"If there was a ring in the bed, I'd have seen it."
The children searched every corner of the room, but couldn't find the ring.
Soon they gave up because they had to meet Mabel in town.
They sat on a wall to wait for her.
"Hey, you went back to normal faster than I did," Mabel said to Gerald.
Now Gerald could tell the story of the three burglars.
After throwing the rock, he'd returned to the room where they were loading their sacks.
He'd followed the men out into the night and discovered their hiding place.
"Look, there's Officer Johnson," said Gerald.
"I need to talk to him."
Gerald hopped off the wall and went over to Officer Johnson.
"Would you like to catch those burglars who've been stealing silver?"
"What do you know about that?" Johnson asked suspiciously.
"I saw something last night, but I could get in trouble for being out late.
Do you promise not to tell anyone?"
Johnson nodded.
"I saw three men taking silver from the castle.
I know where they put it."
"So you wrote the note?" Johnson said eagerly.
"Yes." Gerald explained how he'd watched the men go down to the river.
They had tied their bags of silver under a dock.
Tonight, after dark, they planned to retrieve the silver and escape by boat.
"You can catch them then," said Gerald.
"But which dock is their hiding spot?" asked Johnson.
"Follow me," said Gerald.
"When I take out my handkerchief and blow my nose, that'll be the place."
Gerald went back to the other children.
"Come on! Let's play follow-the-leader."
The children followed him, running and jumping and imitating his every step.
Johnson followed at a distance.
On one dock Gerald suddenly stopped and blew his nose.
Then he led the children back to the school.
"We've brought our friend Mabel home for lunch,"
said Kathleen when Eliza opened the door.
"Where's Mademoiselle?"
"She's gone to visit the castle.
The grounds are open to the public today.
Now hurry up with your lunch.
This is my afternoon off.
My fiancé doesn't like waiting for me."
The children ate quickly and Eliza left.
"Where's the ring?" asked Mabel.
"I really need to put it back."
"I haven't had a turn yet," protested Jimmy.
"When we find it—"
"When you find it?" said Mabel.
They told her about losing the ring.
"Oh no!" cried Mabel.
"We have to find it!"
The children searched and searched Gerald's room, but they still couldn't find the ring.
Suddenly there was pounding at the back door.
Kathleen ran downstairs.
A strange man stood near the doorstep.
His eyes were open wide with amazement.
One arm was stretched out toward the door.
The rest of him looked as if he were trying to run the other way.
"Let go of me!" he cried.
"I won't let go of you!" said Eliza's voice.
But no Eliza could be seen.