The Penn's Grove record., 1884-07-26

~deferentially before them, and then
back again.
"Well, if the house is to be searched
it had best be done promptly, suppose, y
said Miss Madison. Tell your man to
proceed at once, Mr.. Jones'"
But, my dear COrisande, do con-
siderl" twittered Mrs. Madison. "Some
of our maids are so very superiorl The
idea of ~ransacking their trunks, as If
they were common burglarsl"
: eff they are innocent Of stealing my
diamond ring they won't care" said
Corisande, indifferently. eff they are
guilty, they deserve all the obloquy
which can descend upon them"
Just here the French maid glided up
to her mistress.
Pardon, mademolsellel' she whis-
pered, her half-closed gray eyes furtiy-
ely observing the detective as she spoke
-'but it occurs to me that l have a
new clew to this mystery, The little
mlllineT is below stairs; she has just
brought home this new bonnet, Per-
haps mademoiselle has forgotten that
she waited in mademoiselle's dressing
room half an hour last Wednesday.
Mademoiselle has not seen her ring
since"
Corisande knitted her brows.
'"To be surel" said she. But you
don't suppose that she has taken it?"
Adrienne dropped her eyelashes.
" would venture to make no ac-
cusation, mademoiselle, " said she, "but
perhaps in a moment of temptation
-
1.-The matter is easily settled" said
the detective. 1--WE can have the
young person up here at once and
search her."
Little Rachel came up, much wonder
ing. She was startled when Adrienne
volubly explained to her the business
upon which she was summoned, but
consented at once to the search.
"Why shouldn't II" shesaid, simply.
Il have nothing to be afraid Of"
She turned her dress pocket inside
out. A little, much-wOrn leather purse
appeared-an elevated railway ticket
a scrap of poetry, cut from some news
paper, fell out-and then a diamond
ring, with II glittering fascet of fire,
set in its plain circlet of gold, flashed
suddenly upon their eyesl
Hal" said Adrienne bouncing upon
it, as some raven might pounce on it's
prey. 'MademoiselIe can see for her.
selfi All. wretchl perldious thiefI'
And she shook Rachel by the shout
dor with one hand, as she held up the ring
with the other.
Rachel turned as pale as ashes.
Il think | must be dreamingI" said
she. Il never saw the ring before in
my life!"
Come, come" said the detective,
''that sort of thing won't go down.
I'm afraid you're an old hand at the
business, for all you look SO young and
innocent"
OF course Rachel was arraigned be-
fore the court, but Corisande Madison
refused to appear for the prosecution.
"The matter has gone far enough"
she said. 1.-The girl is not a hardened
thief. She stole the ring in a moment
of temptation. She has suffered suffi-
GENTLY. 1 don't believe she will ever
offend in this way again."
So little Rachel was discharged with
a reprimand from the magistrate.
But it was like clipping the wings of
a wild bird and then bidding it fly away
into freedom once more.
The fashionable milliner who had
employed the girl would have nothing
more to say to her. No one wanted her
services. And on the few occasions
when there seemed a prospect of re-
munerative work, the horizon was over
clouded at once when the question Of
references came up.
No one wanted a thief about their
premIsesl
One person, however, believed in little
Rachel Stlll-her stepmother, a hard-
working woman, who let lodgings and
did up fine laces and old ladies' caps for
a livelihood
There is some jugglery about this
business" said she. "My husbands
daughter never was a theft"
II was in the bleak winter-time when
Adrienne Moncontour engaged the n
attic bedroom that Airs. Holley still
had to let.
Adrienne had left Miss Madison's SER
vice some weeks before. She could not
agree with the new housekeeper, who
loudly declared that the French maid
had once been employed as a waitress
in a gambling saloon in Paris.
Perhaps there was some truth in this,
for certain it was that Adrienne had an
uncomfortable mania for cards, and at