Miss Cornelia unwrapped the paper and smoothed out the sheet.

Two lines of coarse, round handwriting sprawled across it:

Take warning! Leave this house at once! It is threatened with
disaster which will involve you if you remain!

There was no signature.

"Who do you think wrote it?" asked Dale breathlessly.

Miss Cornelia straightened up like a ramrod--indomitable.

"A fool--that's who! If anything was calculated to make me stay
here forever, this sort of thing would do it!"

She twitched the sheet of paper angrily.

"But--something may happen, darling!"

"I hope so! That's the reason I--"

She stopped. The doorbell was ringing again--thrilling, insistent.
Her niece started at the sound.

"Oh, don't let anybody in!" she besought Miss Cornelia as Billy
came in from the hall with his usual air of walking on velvet.

"Key, front door please--bell ring," he explained tersely, taking