The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-08-18

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fessor. He was out" but was TO be II
again very soon. | strolled about ths
neighborhood some time 80 as not to mis-
him, having shrewd suspicion that b,
had not yet made his appearance a
breakfast. Sure enough found him 4
little before noon eating in languis
manner the remains of fowl which hat
done duty before, and drinking small
beer. knowing little of professional
men, however, recognized the exigen
cies of the case, and after the usual civil
ties explained the reasons of my call. He
was a tall man, rather thin, with weak
eyes, but sufficiently gentlemaniy to pass
muster both in dress and manner Rath-
er to my surprise he readily agreed To ac-
company me, and postpone for a few days
the private engagements which he had
on hand at the time; but in the course OF
our journey down tfor We returned that
night the reason of his compliance came
out. He wished to include the robbery
in his advertisements, and all that |
could say to the contrary would not con-
vince him that my friend would scarcely
care for his name to be mixed up in the
matter After considerable discussion we
thought it best to inform Mrs. Cargill
later in the evening who and what our
visitor really was.
The Professor explained TO us that, as
Mrs. Cargill knew the diamond and had
worn it So long, she was the one who, with
her hand in his, could best communicate
to him where to head her " IT." said he,
" the day is clear and bright, shall lead
you tomorrow to the spot, Mrs. Cargill,
provided you have sufficient strength of
mind to keep your ideas fixed entirely
upon the stone. You must keep it vivid
ly before your minds eye, and | shall
lead YOU TO it if it il in the house or
grounds"
Nothing had occurred in the household
since my departure in the morning, and
the robber whoever he wasl must now,
We judged, be beginning to feel somewhat
easier in mind: 80 in case of his deeniing
it necessary to alter the probable hiding
place of the stone, we determined upon
immediate action, deciding to commence
next morning at daybreak, before the
world would be properly awake. The
professor did not much appreciate the
idea of such an early start, but We sue
ceeded in overcoming his scruples, and il
was arranged before We parted for bed
room at three o'clock next morning.
Mrs Cargill was down before me, and
Harold shortly after OF course, we We're
all before the time and 10 wait in dumb
silence (eyen with the prospect of "a most
interesting experiment. for twenty min
utes in the cold dawn, was anything but
lively. AT length the Professor appeared,
looking, we were glad to see, equal to his
business We had left the front door
ajar in case of need, as il was our impress
sion iso thorough search having already
been made inside) that the object of our
quest must be without the house 1t was
rather eerie work for us all, except the
Professor, who was equal to the occasion
and seemed to scent the battle, so to speak
in the shape Of some far-off diamond
which he had never seen.
At twelve minutes past three, then, ,Mrs.
Cargill took the Professors hand, he hay-
ing been previously blindfolded. Not"
he said. that such a thing was necessary,
but it Gained his power of thought to
some extent" Harold and | retired a
few steps, and the silence for several min
utes was deathlike At last the Professor
made step, another and then to us on
lockers it seemed as if certainty had re-
placed doubt He went straight to the
door, Mrs Cargill following land we, too,
discreetlyl down the avenue to the first
turning, and then bang against the fence
in most disturbing manner. This little
incident seemed to have upset his train Of
thought, and ii was some minutes before
he seemed to grasp the situation.
1t was fortunate thing that the morn
ing was fine, though the grass looked
abominably wet inwardly shuddered
at the idea that, had there been gate We
should have felt obliged to open il, and
take to the grass and catching Harold's
eve. we both felt somewhat guilty, as
though we might be Sinking something.
But the something" was not 10 be
shirked. The Professor calmly eommenc-
ed to climb the paling, which, as his one
hand was occupied, and as he was an ex-
ceedingly ungainly man, obviously never
born for feats of agility, seemed rather an
extraordinary proceeding. Over he would
90, however, and aver Mrs. Cargill must
go with him when man is in a trance
he is very unreasonable how Mrs. Car
ell stood it | cannot tell, save that she
herself was, perhaps little affected.
We were helping them quietly over
when the Professor got into most unac-
countable hurry, and had we not both
devoted our attention to Mrs Cargill she
and her leader mus, have fallen, and the
train of thought been probably broken.
We had been asked to maintain dis
erect silence. but | could almost have
sworn caught snlothered exclamation
from Harold as Mrs. Cargilfs foot was
brought snartly round upon the side of
his head owing To the Professors unrea-
sonable haste
Once over the paling the scent seemed
to have grown weaker. OF course, there
was no hesitation in the avenue, and
very evident absence of such feeling when
palings had been surmounted; but once
OH the dewy grass things might be taken
more easily ] went back to the faling
to Join Harold, and we left the pair 10
till they got fairly across the
field. Then the Professor seemed to rec
ognize the proximity of another palng,
and We had to run TO be in time to help
them over We were getting more used
10 it now. and Mrs. Cargill was bearing
up wonderfully We handed them over
without any rnishap. save that the Pro-
fessor's foot got twisted in the fence, and
his boot lone Of these elastic-sided mon-
and very DID, came off in the
struggle to extricate him.
Harold and had, up till now been