"
As he talked he whirled the garment around and shot his long arms
into the sleeves. Shaking it into place on his shoulders, he
slowly turned in front of Linda and the surprised Katy. The
sleeves came halfway to his wrists and the shoulders slid down
over his upper arms. He made such a quaint and ridiculous figure
that Katy burst out laughing. She was very well trained, but she
knew Linda was deeply distressed.
"Wake up, lambie!" she cried sharply. "That coat ain't belonging
to Mr. Pater Morrison. That gairment is the property of that
bug-catchin' architect of his."
Peter shook off the coat and handed it back to Linda.
"Am I acquitted?" he asked lightly; but his surprised eyes were
searching her from braid to toe.
Linda turned from him swiftly. She thrust the packet into a side
pocket and started to the garage with the coat. As she passed
inside she slipped down her hand, slid the sheet of plans from
the other papers, and slipped it into the front of her blouse.
She hung the coat back where she had found it, then suddenly sat
down on the side of Peter Morrison's couch, white and shaken.
Peter thought he heard a peculiar gasp and when he strayed past
the door, casually glancing inward, he saw what he saw, and it
brought him to his knees beside Linda with all speed.
"Linda-girl," he implored, "what in this world has happened?"
Linda struggled to control her voice; but at last she buried her
face in her hands and frankly emitted a sound that she herself
would have described as "howling.
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