Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Certainly, ma'am," responded Mr..
Bevis, rubbing his white hands softly

"Certainly, ma'am," responded Mr..
bevls, rubbing his white hands softly
together.
WAS there anything inside the case
but the bracelet" inquired Mrs. Carne-
gle, with q tihge of embarrassment.
mo, l think not. In fact, 1 may say
I'm sure, for 1 opened the case myself,
in Mr.. Carnegie's presence" said Mir.
Bevis, unhesitating1y. .
...ao are-you are quite sure Of
that said Mrs. Carnegie, considerably
taken aback, and stealing a glance at
MIR. Bevis' imperturbable face.
"Most certainly. Have you missed
anything, ma'am? May l ask what you
expected 1 should find therep" inquired
MI. Bevis, with a p%oliteness.
Mrs. Carnegie bit her lips, and was
silent. 1t would never do to hint at
having had the earring in her possess
sion, now that it appeared to be lost.
There was something in MI. Bevis'
manner which filled her with vague dis
trust. and made her almost think he
suspected her, for no doubt
the news of the Consols' loss reached
him, since MIR. Consols had offered a re-
ward for the missing earring. She
would have thought nothing Of getting
HIM TO assist her in restoring the ear
r1hs.g, but it was quite a different matter
to let Tim into the secret when the or
nament .ha9 vanished. He might in the
latter case, Gircnlate a report that she
had misappropr<<ated it, and. at all
events, there was ne reason why she
should confide in him.
She therefore did not volunteer to en-
tighten him, but left the shop witt: her
mind full of speculation as to the fats
OF the earring. But the more she re-
Elected the more she was driven to the
conclusion that Mr.. Bevis had deceived
her. AS her husband had taken the
case and had handed it unopened to the
Jeweler, the earring must have been
there. vt could not possibly havefallen
ont, nor was it the least likely that Mr..
Bevis had failed to see it when he
opened the case. Mrs. Carnegie began
to suspect-and her suspicious soon
reached the stage of absolute conviction
that MIR. Bevis was guilty of a piece
of deliberate dishonesty, and had quietly
appropriated the earring. Perhaps he
had recognized it by the description
MIR. Consols had circulated, and was
shrewd enough to foresee that nobody
but the legitimate owner would venture
to claim it.
If this was his idea. il turned out to
be perfectly well founded. Although
Mrs. Carnegie felt no shadow of q doubt
that Mr.. Bevis had stolen the earring,
she could not bring herself to %denounce
him. 1t would be no good going to him
alone, for this she had already done. If
she contided in her husband She could
prove nothing, and, beside, she natur-
ally shrank from confessing her share
innocent though it was-in the mysteri-
GUS disappearance of the earring. 1t
would give people-and especially the
Censols-the opportunity Of saying i'll
natured things, while it was by no
means certain that the earring would
be forthcoming after all. Consequently,
Mrs. Carnegie very reluctantly kept her
own counsel, though her conscience
smote her q good deal when she reflect
ed that the loss of the earring was d.
rectly attributable to her.
A month or two later, when time had
somewhat soothed her susceptibilities,
| and had even caused her to wonder at
odd moments whether she had not,
after all, wronged Mr.. Bevis by her sus-
picion, her husband came home one
day and said:
"Guess whom I lunched with to-day
in the city? Well, you may spare your
self, for you would never guess. !
lunched With old Consols."
"Really!" exclaimed his wife, in
genuine surprise. ''How was that?"
sob! he isn't a bad old fellow. Vul-
gar, of course; but most of those city
men are. He ran after me in the street
and held out his hand. He took me by
surprise, and, before I knew where 1
was, | was sitting at lunch with him at
his club"
"Did he say how Mrs. Consols and
the girls were?" inquired Mrs. Car
negie, with great interest.
"They are all right. BY the by, you
remember the missing earring? Well,
it has never turned up; but Bevis has
managed to replace it. Oddly enough,
it was [ who mentioned the matter to
Bevis that day [ took your bracelet;
and Just as old Consols was in despair
at not being able to procure a match
for the earring that remained. having
tried everywhere, Bevis comes forward
and undertakes the job. The opal he
has furnished is a fac smile of the miss
ing one, and old Consols is delighted.
He had to pay a long price for it,
though. Bevis doesn't do a job of that
kind for nothing, I can tell you."-
Boston Herald.