No one
was found, but burned matches were on the floor of one or two rooms,
which gave evidence that some one had been there.
In the yard back of the house a pair of heavy overshoes, also
government socks, were found, so it was decided that the man had
climbed up on the roof and entered the house through a dormer window
that had not been fastened. No one would look for the piece of shingle
that night, but in the morning I found it on the ground close to the
house.
All the time the search was being made I had been in the window.
Colonel Mills insisted that I should go to his house for the remainder
of the night, but suggested that I put some clothes on first! It
occurred to me then, for the first time, that my own costume was
rather striking - not quite the proper thing for a balcony scene.
Everyone was more than kind, but for a long time after Miss Mills and
I had gone to her room my teeth chattered and big tears rolled down my
face. Mrs. Norton declares that I was more frightened than she was,
and I say, "Yes, probably, but you did not stop to listen to your own
horrible screams, and then, after making us believe that you were
being murdered, you quietly dropped into oblivion and forgot the whole
thing."
Just as the entire garrison had become quiet once more - bang!
