Uneasy Money · Chapter 13 (2/2)

“Yes, but not until Eustace had got away. He slipped out like a streak and disappeared. It was too dark to see which way he went.”

Dudley Pickering limped heavily into the room.

“I was just telling them about you and Eustace, Dudley.”

Mr. Pickering nodded moodily. He was too full for words.

“I think Eustace must be mad,” said Claire.

Roscoe Sherriff uttered a cry of rapture.

“You’ve said it!” he exclaimed. “I knew we should get action sooner or later. It’s the puma over again. Now we are all right. Now I have something to work on. ‘Monkey Menaces Countryside.’ ‘Long Island Summer Colony in Panic.’ ‘Mad Monkey Bites One⁠—’ ”

A convulsive shudder galvanized Mr. Pickering’s portly frame.

“ ‘Mad Monkey Terrorizes Long Island. One Dead!’ ” murmured Roscoe Sherriff wistfully. “Do you feel a sort of shooting, Pickering⁠—a kind of burning sensation under the skin? Lady Wetherby, I guess I’ll be getting some of the papers on the phone. We’ve got a big story.”

He hurried to the telephone, but it was some little time before he could use it. Dudley Pickering was in possession, talking earnestly to the local doctor.