Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-03-15

-, - "A Oi' 'iic AtIaS road OOre the INITIAL
+. ON the inside; there was no initial
on thiS, hut there were traces Of an
erasure, which apparently had been
done with great care. lie consulted with
the leweller, who, after an inspection
said there had undoubtedly been an
craSure. but il had not been done whilst
the article had been in his poSsessic n.
and he himself was not aware of ii before
the present moment. FerTers' first idea
was to proceed to the preftct of police
with the ring, TO put that functionary in
mind Of the series of robberies and mur-
ders which lad caused so much excite
ment some years b. fore, and emand an
Official court OF inquiry, TO trace the his
tory of the ring since it had been wrenched
from his finger. Second thoughts, how
ever, persuaded him o.herwises The
erasure of the initial might, at the
outset, raise difficulty which would rem
der this course entirely useless. ReSoly-
ing upon another mode Of proceeding. he
asked the je Weller by what means the ring
had come into possession: but as that in
dividual seemed TO consider the question
somewhat mcivil, he purchase d il giving
the full marked price, aud then repeated
the inquiry. Having received its full
market value and something over, the
jeweler relaxed the scrupleS of mercan.
tile etiquette, and writing down a name
and address upon a slip of paper, handed
it TO ferrers, telling him they were those
of the person of whom he purchased the
ring, "Mdlle. Duberne, Rue da Uelder,
d. FerrerS took the ring and the slip
Of paper, and departed. 4 few hours
after found him with an agent of the Pre-
feet, dressed in unofficial costume, in the
luNuriouSly furnished little GpyDfement
of MademoiSelle Dubcrne, rather hand.
some and very stylish Parisenne, of some
twenty-Seven or twcnty-eig wears The
subject was very adroitly introduced by
the agent Of the police, and the intended
inquiries We're asked; but it appeared that
the ring had been so long in the posses
sion of the young lady. before some casual
exigency induced her 10 dispose of it.
that she had great difficulty i'm bringing
tpmindhow she came 10y it. '-Onc receives
so many presents, and especially so many
rings, " said she carelessly, that it is al
most impossible to recollCct any particular
one." She appeared very willing tc COM
ply with the request made, but was not
able; and after leaning her white forehead
on her white hand for some time, she de-
clared it was impossible she could not
remember who gave her the ring. 1T
must have been given me by some one
or other" she said, "for though | have
dozens of rings, never purchased one
in my life. 1t is quite trouble enough to
accept them. 1t is very likely that I
have never seen the person who gave me
this, either before or since. / am sure /
cannot remember who it was. | only
wish L could, messieurs should have
great pleasure in obliging you" There
was no reason for suSpecting any inten-
tlonal concealment /; the manner of the
lady was perfectly easy and unembar-
raised. They told her that the inquiry
they made involved matters of great i'm
portance, and that if she could find out
whence She received the ring, she would
afford very great service to MANY indi-
vlduals. In fine, she asked Ferrers to
leave his address, and stated, that if she
could possibly call to mind, in the course
of few days, or trace back the circun.
stances of her coming into possession of
the ring, she would send 20 him, or call
upon him herself As nothing more
could be done at the present moment,
they thanked the lady and withdrew.
ferrcrS returned to his residence with
his mind completely set upon pursuing
the investigation, and already felt strong
presentiment that the mystery of the
crimes in the Pas de Calais was about to
be cleared up. He was just about to enter
the door of the house when, by singular
chance, he deserted De Vernelie lounginp
idly along on the other side of the street.
1t was more than SIX years since he had
seen him; but had it been twenty wears.
he could never have forgotten that strange
and strongly marked face. Under an i'm
pulse, arising from the strength with
which former associations had lust been
awakened, he stepped directly a rJss and
accosted him. DE Nernelle started vio.
lently, and turned deadly pale as he per-
ceiyed him; but he rallied himself imme-
diately, stood boldly erect, and held out
his hand with the old air of fine breed
ing, and the old grim smile Ferrers re-
minded him Of the circumstances which.
brought about their first meeting, and
asked If he still was prepared and willing
TO bestOw handsome reward for the dis
coyery of the wretches who had formerly
rendered the neighborhood of St. Omer
and Arras so frightfully notorious p
''Peste!" exclaimed DE Nernelle, still
smiling, lis not all that forgotten vet q"
Ferrers remarked that he could not answer
for other people, but, for his own part. he
feared he should never be able to forget.
and proceeded 10 relate how he had
found his ring, how he bad consulted
the police, how lac had visited and in
terrOgated Mademoiselle Duberne, &c.
The smile became fixed and ghastly upon
the face of De Vernelle, as he listened.
''Mdlle. Duberne." muttered be: that is
surely the name of an old friend of mine
whom, however, [ have not seen for a
long time. He then became silent. and
distracted to a remarkable degree. Fer
rers, sanguine in his project, continued to
ak of the steps he intended taking: but
MS companion seemed to hear nothing
seemed like somnambulist standing
iream- stricken in the street. Come.
'ome )" exclaimed Ferrers, with laugh,
are you ready to hand over the five
francs, for | intend very shortly
20 demand them!" Shortly how do