The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-01-13


tary movement; thought was fainting; and
the noise reached him. Looking up, our eyes
met With the strength born Of desperation
seized the handl, of the door, and In a moment
the key WAS safely turned In the lock.
Happily for the lives Of myself and my SER
wants the door was an old-fashioned me, of a
particularly strong description; and, having a
strong outer moulding, 1t was almost phys
ical impossibiity to break 1t open from the in
side OF the room. The exigency of the situa-
ton sustained me for the moment and enabled
me to arouse my three servan s, who must at
first have thought had gone temporarily out
OF my min when | tried to make them COM
prehend our position.
II was two o'clock In the morning, still
blowing a gale, and dark az Erebus. But as
sistance must be got. The m IN within our
spare room might have accomplices without;
our danger might but be beginning. We had
an alarm bell; that must be rung. Four
trembling women, We proceeded In a group to
the outer back court where the bell hung.
only o find the rope severed. had snatched
up cloak and arrayed myself in my slippers
and skirt: The servants were as little dressed
as myself BIT it was no time to hesitate;
immediate action must be taken. We must
rouse the gardener, VIII lived a considerable
way from the house. Through the dark, drip
ping strawberries we flew, at every step expect
ng to be dragged back by some lurker; but
no one stopped US. II safety we reached the
cOJJa0es anu III u rev UllHuJeS dTkWTlguG INV
gardener and general factotum was in our
midst.
His cottaye was was within short distance
Of several others; and though he wished to
go straight to the house, fearing lest the man
should have ESCAPED, or been liberated by ac-
completes, l would oot hear of it. l insisted
upon his getting couple OF men to accompany
him, precaution for which ! saw Arkwright's
nice fttle wife was grateful. This caused
81 1e decay; butt had not enabled my captive
70 escape, The hall door was found open an
overs shc just as we had left it, the spare
70 IN doe itillclosed. By nv orders 1t was not
20 be unlocked until the police arrived Sew
eral volun, GERS had fastened to summon hem;
and VIZ we were awaiting their arrival
had u to think little OF the horror OF the
position. How had Lady Dasent's diamond
necklace found It's way into Alfr~d Mlulcver-
er's portm anteau! Could he be some awful
implstor, some villain in the guise of a gentle
man, whom had marlboro in my house, and
to whom had me ltated giving my niecea
The shock would almost kill Amy. Even I
felt as if l should never get over it.
Who was tn. man? A dreadful tightness
came over my heart when this question pre-
sented ITSELF a suspicion too horrible.
1t made the susp ,nse almost too terrible. |
heard the policemen arrive, and while they
were ascending the stairs to the spare bedroom
l felt almost choked wi an apprehension for
what I should next hear. The door was
no resistance; the game was up. Thanks to
'the old woman" as heard him style me, he
had missed the best chance of clearing fort
une he had ever had.
Who was he2 Where had / seen him!
The mystery was soon explained. He was
the Dasent's magnificent head butler-one OF
a gang, as it afterwards was discovered-aud
who had, with the co nivaHce of his comrades,
cleared off the plate, but hoped to sec Ire for
his own private benefit the famous damon Is.
The fire had SO far upset the plans that he
had found himself left ia possession of the
diamonds when his services came to be re-
quired in aiding to eXtinguish the fire. In
place OF lgh therefore, as he had at first.
intended, The wary butler judged it best to let
his confeierates make Off with the plate while
he remained with the diamonds in his posses:
sion, one of the most active in subduing the,
flames, and suggesting the most feasible.
schemes for discovering the thieves.
When the detectives came down to Enfield
it became i'm 0eratiye upon him to hit upon
some safe place for the diamonds. Mr..
Mauleverer was blessed with an over
abundant wardrobe, and, during his visit to
under his particular care, laying out his
clothes, arranging and settling things gener-
ally for him. The idea of temporarily depos-
iting the precious gems within the lining OF
one of that gentleman's portmanteaus struck
him as brilliant one. His intention, of course,
was to withdraw them directly. Mr.. Maulever-
er's depsr ure was ABOUT to take place, and he
would, of course, have the best opportunity of
doing so while packing his clothes; but his
plan, by mere chance, mlscarriei, AMI he
ha the modification Of seeing the portmantean
leave Eufeld with the diamonds still safely
secreted within it.
Mr.. Mauleverer's temporary absence from
our house afforded too good an opportunity
to be missed; hence the visit to the Wre rs
Nest, which very nearly terminated my exist
g. Al~o .,~1 Il
brought on an Illness from which, for long, it
was not expected [ should recover.
Amy was my tender nurse all through 1t,
and it was from her lips | heard all the par
ticulars of the robbery, in the sequel to which
| had been called on to play 50 prominent
part.
Happily for both our sakes, she never knew
of the terrible SUSPECT m | had for a brief tims
entertained regarding Mr.. Mauleverer. TINT
gen lemtn m lde his appearance in due time at
the Wren's Nest, bearing his fathers letter,
which informed me not only OF his willingness
to welcome Amy as his daughter, but to settle
an income upon the young uple Of the most
satisfactory description. Shortly at erward
| he butler was placed upon his trial, and
was calle out despite my weakened condition
| to give evidence against him. This, however,
| was happily spared, as the prisoner, acting
on the advice OF his counsel pleaded guilty.
| Indeed, 1 was d 'ubly relieved, as Mauever-
| er's character was thus indicated. As he
wretched prisoner was being removed he
vowed he would ''pay Miss Courtenay visit
again when his term of Imprisonment ex-
pred" However, ten years. penal seryitude
may bring about a change in his intentions.
Lady Dase It amused me very much by the
comforting view she took OF the matter.
| "Do not trouble your head, my dear Miss
Courte. 'ay about anything the wretch may
have sad; in the course of nature YOU will be
| beyond his reach long before then"
nntf m frsra i Oh viii "a
all events, am glad lived long enough to
| he the me ms Of vnnr rAcnYnrinu Nnnr nia L.