The Diamond Bracelet
Dy MRS. HENRY WOOD,'
Author of E&At Lynne, Etc.
CHAPTER V (Continued.)
"I trust not, but I am vry unhap
py. Who could have done it? How
could it have gone? I left the room
when you did, but I only lingered on
the stairs watching if I may tell the
-. . i. i . i . i
s.. urn nctiier you g" uui diet?
and then I returned to it Yet, when
Lady Sarah came ud from dinner it
was gone."
"And did no one else go into the
room?" he repeated. "I met a lady at
the door who asked for you: I sent
her upstairs."
"She went in for a minute. It was
my sister, Gerard."
"Oh, indeed, was that your sister?
Then she counts as we do for nobody
In this. It is strange. The bracelet
was in the room when I left It "
"You are sure of it?" interrupted
Alice drawing a long breath of sus
pense. "I am. When I reached the door I
turned round to take a last look at
you, and the diamonds of that partic
ular bracelet gleamed at me from its
place on the table."
"Oh, Gerard! is this the truth?"
"It is the truth, on my sacred word
of honor," he replied, looking at her
agitated face and wondering at her
words. "Why else should I say it?
Good-by, Alice, I can't stay another
moment, for here's somebody coming
I don't care to meet"
He was off like a shot, but his
words and manner, like her sister's,
had conveyed their conviction of inno
cence to the mind of Alice. She stood
still, looking after him In her dreamy
wonderment, and was jostled by the
passers-by. Which of the two was the
real delinquent? One of them must
have been.
CHAPTER VI.
A little roan was striding about his
library with Impatient steps. He
wore a faded dressing gown, hand
some once, but remarkably shabby
now, and he wrapped it closely around
him though the heat of the weather
was intense. But Colonel Hope, large
as were his coffers, never spent upon
himself a superfluous farthing, espe
cially In the way of personal adorn
ment; and Colonel Hope would not
have felt too warm, cased in sheep
skins,, for he had spent the best part
of his life in India, and was of a
chilly nature.
The Colonel had that afternoon been
I made acquainted with an unpleasant
transaction which had occurred in his
house. The household termed It a
mystery; he, a scandalous robbery;
and he had written forthwith to the
nearest chief police station, demand
ing that an officer might be dispatched
back wltH the messenger to investi
gate It. So there he was, waiting for
his return in impatient expectation,
and occasionally halting before the
window to look out on the busy Lon
don world.
The officer at length came and wan
Introduced. The Colonel's wife, Lady
Sarah, Joined him then, and they pro
ceeded to give him the outlines of the
case. A valuable diamond bracelet,
recently presented to Lady Sarah. by
her husband, had disappeared In a
singular manner. MIhs Seaton, the
companion, to Lady Sarah, had tem
porary charge of the Jewel box, and
had brought it down the previous
evening, Thursday, this being Friday,
to the back of the drawing room, fnd
laid several pairs of bracelets out on
the table ready for Lady Sarah, who
was going to the opera, to choose
which she would wear when she -came
up from dinner. Lady Sarah chose a
pair, and put, herself, the rest back
Into the box, which Miss Seaton then
locked and carried to its place up
stairs. In the few minutes that the
bracelets lay on the table the most
valuable one, a diamond, disappeared
from It
"I did not want this to be officially
Investigated; at least, not so quickly,"
, observed Lady Sarah to the officer.
"The Colonel wrote for you quite
.against my wish."
. "And so have let th thief eot plisr
off, and put up with the loss!" cried
the Colonel. "Very fine, my lady."
"You see," added her ladyship, ex
plaining to the officer "Miss Seaton is
a young lady of good family, not a
common companion; a friend of mine,
I may say, She Is of feeble constitu
tion, and this affair has so completely
upset her that I fear she will be laid
on a sick bed."
"It won't be my fault If she Is," re
torted the Colonel. "Th Inns nf a
diamond bracelet, worth two or three
hundred guineas, is not to be hushed
up. They are not to be bought every
ay, Lady Sarah!"
The officer was taken to the room
Whence the bracelet disappeared. It
was a back drawing room, the folding
doors between It and the front stand
ing open, and the back window, a
large one looking out upon some flat
Uads at did all the row ot houses.
The officer seemed to take in Re
points of the double room at a glance;
the door of communication, Its twa
doors opening to the corridor outside
ad Its windows. Me 1 oked at .the
latches of the two entrance doors, and
be leaned from the front windows, and
ha leaned from the one at the back.
Ha next requested to see Miss Seaton,
aad Lady Sarah fetched her a delt
aata girl with transparent skin and
looking almost too weak to walk. Bho
7 as In a visible tremor, and shook as
" Stood before the stranger.
tVr1c waa a man of pleasant manners
and speech, and he hastened to assure
her: "There's nothing to be afraid of,
young lady," said he, with a broad
smile. "I'm not an ogre; though I do
believe some timid folks look upon us
as such. Just please to compose your-
seu ana tell me as much as you can
recollect of this."
"I put the bracelets out here," began
Alice Seaton, laying hold of the table
underneath the window, not more to
indicate it than to steady herself, for
she was almost Incapable of standing.
The diamond bracelet, the one lost.
I placed here,", she added, touching
the middle of the table at the back
and the rest I laid out round, and
and before It."
"It was worth more than any of the
others, I believe," interrupted the off!
clal.
"Much more," growled the Colonel.
The officer nodded to himself, and
Alice resumed:
"I left the bracelets and went and
sat down at one of the front win
dows "
"With the intervening doors open,
presume."
Wide open, as they are now," said
Alice, "and the other two doors shut.
Lady Sarah came up from dinner al
most directly, and then the bracelet
waa not there."
Indeed! You are quite certain of
that."
I am quite certain," interpohed
Lady Sarah, "I looked for that brace
let, and, not seeing it, I supposed Miss
Seaton had not laid it out I put on
the pair I wished to wear and placed
the others in the box and saw Miss
Seaton lock it."
"Then you did not miss the bracelet
at that time?" questioned the officer.
"I did not miss It In one sense, be
cause I did not know it had been put
out, returned her ladyship. "I saw
it was not there."
"But did you not miss it?" he asked.
I only reached the table as Lady
Sarah was closing the lid of the box,'
she answered. "Lady Frances Chene
vlx had detained me In the front
room."
"My sister," explained Lady Sarah.
"She is on a visit to me, and had come
with roe up from dinner,"
"You Bay you went and sat in the
front room," resumed the officer to
Alice, in a quicker tone than he had
used previously. "Will you show
where?"
Alice did not stir; she only turned
her head towards the front room, and
pointed to a chair a little drawn away
from the window.
"In that chair," she said. "It stood
as It stands now."
The officer looked baffled.
"You must have bad the back room
full In view from thence; both the
door and the window."
"Quite so," replied Alice. "If you
will sit down in it, you will perceive
that I had an uninterrupted view, and
faced the doors of both rooms."
'I perceive so from here. And you
saw no one enter?"
"No one did enter. It was impossi
ble they could do so without my ob
serving it Had either of the doors
been only quietly unlatched, I must
have seen."
And yet the bracelet vanished!"
Interposed Colonel Hope. "They must
have been confounded deep whoever
did it; but thieves are said to possess
alight of hand."
"They are clever enough for It. some
of them," 'observed the officer.
Rascally villains. I should like to
know how they accomplished this."
So should I," significantly returned
the officer. "At present It appears to
me incomprehensible."
There was a pause. The officer
seemed to muse; and Alice, happen
Ing to look up, saw his eyes stealthily
studying her face. It did not tend to
reassure her.
Your servants are trustworthy; they
have lived with you some time?" re
sumed the officer, not apparently at
taching much importance to what the
answer might bo. ,
"Were they all escaped convicts
don't see that it would throw light on
this," retorted Colonel Hope. "If they
came Into the room to steal the brace
let. Miss Seaton must have seen tbem.'
irom the time you put out the
bracelets to that of the ladies coming
up from dinner, how long was It?" In
quired the officer of Alice,
"1 scarcely know," panted she, for,
what with his close looks and bis close
questions, she was growing less able
to answer. "I did not take particular
notice of the lapse of time; 1 was not
well yesterday evening."
"Was It half an hour?"
"Yes I dare say nearly so."
Miss Seaton," he continued, In a
brisk tone, "will you have any objec
tions to take an oath before a magis
tratein private, you know that no
person whatever, except yourself, en
tered either of these rooms during that
period?"
taking an oath an 1 in a private
room? You are not a Chartist, or a
Mormon or whatever the people call
themselves, who profess to object to
oaths, on principle."
The officer's eyes were still kemly
fixed on Alice Beaton's, and she cow
ered vlHibly beneath his gaze.
"Will you assure me, on your sacred
word, tbat no person did enter the
room?", he repeated, in a low, firm
tone, which somehow carried her to
the terrible belief that he believed that
she was trifling with him.
She looked at him, gasped, and
looked again; and then she raised her
handkerchief la her hand and wiped
her damp and ashy face.
"I think some one did come In."
whispered the officer in her ear; "try
and recollect." And Alice fell back In
hysterics.
Lady Sarah led her from the room,
herself speedily returning to it.
"You see how weak and nervous Miss
Seaton is," was her remark to the offi
cer, but glancing at her husband. "She
has been an invalid for years, and is
not strong like other people. I felt
sure we should have a scene of some
kind; that is why I wished the Investi
gation not to be gone into hurriedly."
"Don't you think there are good
grounds for an investigation, sir?" tes
tily asked Colonel Hope of the officer.
"I must confess I do think so," was
the reply.
"Of course, you hear, my lady. The
difficulty is, how can we obtain the first
clue to the mystery."
"I do not suppose there will be an
Insurmountable difficulty," observed
the officer. "I believe I have obtained
one." ,
"You are a clever fellow, then,"
cried the Colonel, "if you have ob
tained it here. What Is it?"
"Will Lady Sarah allow me to men
tion it whatever it may be without
taking offense?" continued the officer,
looking at her ladyship.
She bowed her head, wondering
much.
"What's the good of standing upon
ceremony?" peevishly put in Colonel
Hope. "Her ladyship will be as glad
as we shall be to get back her brace
let; more glad, one would think. A
clue to the thief! Who can it have
been?"
The detective smiled. When men
are a3 high In the police force as he,
they have learned to give every word
Its due significance. "I did not say
clue to the thief. Colonel; I said a clue
to the mystery."
"Where's the difference?"
"Pardon me, it is indisputably per
ceptible. That the bracelet is gone, is
a papable fact; but by whose hands it
went, is as yet a mystery."
"What do you suspect?"
"I suspect," returned the officer, low
erlng his voice, "that Miss Seaton
knows how it went"
There was a silence of surprise; on
Lady Sarah's part, of Indignation.
is it possible that you suspect
her?" uttered Colonel Hone.
"No," said the officer, "I do not sus
pect herself; she appears not to be a
suspicious person in any way; but I
believe she knows who the delinquent
Is, and that fear, or some other motive
keeps her silent Is she on familiar
terms with any of the servants?"
"But you cannot know what you are
saying!" Interrupted Lady Sarah. "Fa
miliar with the servants! Miss Seat-
on is a gentlewoman, and has always
moved in high society. Her family is
little inferior to mine, and better
better than the Colonel's," concluded
her ladyship, determined to speak out
(To be continued.)
m
Pictorial iumor
HE KNEW.
Ah!
to
Of
WOMAN WHO RIDES HORSEBACK.
St Louis
CHAPTER VII,
Had she been requested to go before
a nugistrate and testify that she, her
self, was th guilty person, It coisjd
scarcely have affected her more, Her
cheeks grew white, her lips parted, and
her eyes assumed a beseeching look of
terror. Lady Hope hastily puahed a
chair behind her, and draw hr down
upon it. ,
"Really, Alice, you are Terr foolish
to allow yourself to be excited about
nothing," she remonstrated; "you
would have fallen on the floor In an
other minute. What harm Is there In
for some time past has
been greatly exercised regarding a fair
equestrienne who has appeared daily
on the fashionable drive3 around La
fayette park riding her steed bareback
and astride. Her identity was known
to few and the majority marveled
greatly at her skill In managing her
spirited steed and at her temerity In
setting at defiance the accepted cus
tom of her sex. With her blonde
hair dressed pompadour, and her blue
eyes flashing with exhilaration, clad
In a clinging wrapper, wearing neither
hat nor gloves, she goes forth dally for
an equestrian stunt that astonishes
the avenue. The Identity of the fair
horsewoman has Anally become known
to the public at large. She la Miss
Jessie Goodpasture and belongs to an
excellent family. She knows a good
horse when she sees one, hut she never
refuses a ride on any animal that is
offered, no matter how sorry a plug
he may be. She prefer a horse with
much spirit and plenty of speed, and
she does not object at all to one that
tries to throw her. "I have never been
thrown," she says, "and I don't fear
being thrown. I guess I can stay on
any horse that comes along. I never
rode a bucking broncho, though. I
have heard of Miss Bessie Mulhall of
Oklahoma and the way she rides horses
and ropes cattle. Well, I suppose she
Is a pretty good rider, but I can, ride a
little myself. When Buffalo Bill waa
here two years ago I rode In his nar-
ade. I also rode In his show with the
general turnout of riders, but I Ilk
riding astride better than on a side
saddle." Miss Jessie went fron
Springfield, III., to 8t Louis olght year
ago. She has never owned a horse
but depends upon acquaintances foi
her mounts. Whenever a boy rlde
past the alley in the rear of her home
she craves the privilege of riding his
horse. Then the neighbors witness a
daring exhibition. "I don't know why
i am so ror,a oi riding," she said, "I
guess I waa Just born that way, I'd
rather ride than do anything else on
earth. I Just must ride." Chicago
Chronicle,
Edna (after he has proposed)
Tom Two.
PRACTICAL, MISS COLIUHTLY.
E. Singer In the Indianapolis Sun.
"As I sit here and gaze into the fire,"
said Cholly Staylayte, dreamily, "I
cannot help but wax imaginative and
poetic. It seems to me that burning
chunk Is old King Cole, and that those
red flames are his dancers now dart
ing up, now leaping down and around
In order to amuse their king. It seems
to me that the crackle of the embers
is the music by old King Cole's fid
dlers three, and "
."Yes," Interrupted Miss Golightly,
yawning wearily and looking at the
clock, "but in that case the old king,
and not papa, ought to pay the fid
dlers." And, after a long while, it dawned
upon Cholly that a ton of coal was al
most as valuable as two Irish pota
toes, and he took his leave.
what Is more delightful than a kiss?
TOOK A BLI Fr.
"I was in a hotel in Indiana a few
weeks ago," said the New York drum
mer; "when the talk turned on Gen
eral Grant. Pretty soon one of the
crowd referred to his two terms as
president, and I felt called upon
correct him."
"How correct him?" was asked.
"Why, as to the two terms.
course he served only one. The fel
low was one of the obstinate kind,
however, and he finally offered to bet
me a hundred to fifty that he was
right. It made the cold chills go over
me. It was a dead sure thing for me,
and yet r hadn't the money to put up.
Gee! But I never felt so mean in my
life. Being dead broke I had to take
his bluff. I'll be heeled on my next
trip, and I'll try and find that chap
and rake in his wad."
"I wouldn't," said the man who had
spoken before.
"Why not?"
"I'd use the money to buy a history
of the United States and have your
ears shortened!"
Rector "Remember, my young
friend, there are better things In life
than money."
Young Friend "Yes, I know that,
but it takes money to buy them."
ONLY JUST HER HUSBAND.
Mistress Mary, you had a man in
the kitchen last evening. Was he a
relative of yours or a friend?
Maid Neither, marm; he was only
just my husband.
Teacher "And why should we en
deavor to rise by our own efforts?"
Johnny Wise" 'Cause there's no
tellin' when the alarum clock will go
wrong."
AN ALTERNATIVE.
Mrs. Hayseed I see they've stopped the roof gardens in New York for
the winter. ,
Mr. Hayseed I reckin they'll have to rely on their hot-beds fer late vege
tables, then.
A FOSER.
BISSp
Mrs. Jones Nu-ah took a pair of every living animal into the ark so
that they wouldn't h&ve been drowned.
Bobbie Did he take in fish?
Mrs. Jones Yes.
Bobble Would they hare been drowned, mamma?
ECONOMY.
Mrs. Chugwater What do yon buy
such cheap shirts for? They are the
most expensive In the end. They're
all worn out after you have had theu
washed half a dozen tlmc3.
Mr. Chugwater Then they only cost
me 60 cents for washing, and that's a
big saving. You go on with your fruit
canning. You can't teach me anything
about buying shirts.
ALWAYS READY. '
"You're not the man that answers
the questions, are you?" inquired the
stranger.
"Yes, sir," said the man in the chair.
"I suppose you've been asked a good
many times before, but I'd like to
know the exact pronuncia "
"Ro-ze-v'lt," interrupted the man
in the chair, turning again to his
work.
"Thanks."
THE ACTUAL COST.
"How do you like my new hat?"
asked the first woman of the other at
the matinee. "The total cost was only
?20."
"Pardon me, madam," chimed in the
disgusted man behind, "but you should
Include the price of my seat, which
makes the total 21.50."
"How do you know he loves you?"
said Miss Cayenne.
'He writes me such beautiful let
ters."
"Humph! That isn't love. That's
literature."
IN THE l'AI'KH.
Ida "They say Belle Is the picture
of health these days."
May "Yes, gome remedy company li
using her picture in their testimonials."
Christian science Is said to be popu
lar among art students In the Latin
quarter of Paris.
Forge "Your raglan Is out of style.
You should have the new 'Kitchener
Yoke,' "
Fenton "Not I! I am a Boer sympathizer."
CONSIDERATE.
"Why Is that picture turned toward
the wall?" , .
"Oh, that Is a haying scene, and we
have to hide It whenever Uncle Thom
as visits us, because he is a hay fever
sufferer."
Johnny (pointing to a centipede) Mamma, look at that thousand-leg!
Mrs. Newrlch My dear child, don't say such vulgar words. You mean a
thousand-limb.
VERY GOOD FORM.
Rodrlck "I wonder why old Three
score took his bookkeeper along when
he went to select a young wife?"
Van Albert "Oh, I guess he wanted
some one who waa good at figures.""
THE ONLY TIME.
"What a great boon hairpins are to
women," observed Pennington.
"And to men," hastened Meekwood.
"How so?"
"Why, when a woman Alls her mouth
with hairpins a man has a chance to
get In a few words."
First Burglar "Why didn't you
sneak that chap's chalnless bicycle ycr
Went after last night?"
Second Burglar "Well, I found out
there was a chalnless dog In the yard,"
ISN'T SAKE.
"Chesney lives in Brooklyn, but be
longs to a New York club. When he
happens to me t soma f the old boys
he stays all night,"
"Why ig that?"
"He's afraid to cross the bridge with
a load,"
THE MEW FAD
Stubb "Since my wife has taken up.
bowling she Is always after me fa
money to play the game."
Pcnn "More pin money, ehT"
