St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-08-09

she said coldly. ut is unfair of you to ask
me to make such sacrifice"
Every well, my dear; then the deluge
must come" replied the captain quietly.
He turned and left the room.
y X
The captain did not allude to the dia-
monds again, and things went on as much
as usual at the Laurels. But Mrs. Valle-
tort grew nervous and fretful and took to
sitting good deal in her dressing-room
The captain kept his word; he never again
preached the subject OF the diamonds, but
he brooded silently over 1t and grew more
morose and taciturn every day. He was
deeply offended by his wife's conduct and
his irritation was aggravated by the con-
tinual worries which beset him. Morris
was obdurate and his other creditors threat
ened him with legal proceedings if he
failed to liquidate his numerous bills.
At last. driven almost to desperation.
the unhappy man conceived daring
plan. If he could not get his wife's dia-
monds by fair means he would get them by
foul. He would steal the jewels. He had
no sooner made up his mind to do this than
he resolved to carry out the idea at once.
He would not give himself time to think
about it, for the word robbery" has an
ugly sound and he did not care to say it
above whisper.
One evening when his wife was dining
with friend in town he found that she had
forgotten to take her keys with her. The
opportunity must not be lost; so good one
might not soon occur again. He therefore
crept softly up to the dressng-room with
the keys in his hand. Much to his aston
ishment he found the window wide open,
the furniture much diSarranged, the door
of the safe ajar. and-the diamonds gone!
For some moments he stood aghast, star
ing stupidity around. Then the dreadful
truth flashed on him. Burglars had eff
fected an entry while he was at dinner and
carried off the jewels.
X
Before MANY hours were over the news of
another great jewel robbery spread over the
country and the services of skilled detect
ives were enlisted. But weeks passed and
no glimmer of light was thrown on the
mysterious burglary. With this calam ity
came another Capt. Valletort's creditors
pressed him so hard that he was compelled
to take the initiatory steps for going through
the bankruptcy court, and his name duly
appeared in the Gazette. After this the
Valletorts found it expedient to leave
England for time. They resolved to spend
the winter in Florence. In that pleasant
city they were soon the center of brilliant
coterie, for Mrs Valletort's beauty and
grace, and her husbands easy, good-natured
manner were as much appreciated as in
London.
One evening, when they had dined quietly
at home. Mrs. ValletOrt announced to her
husband that she had something to show
him that would surprise him considerably.
The captain rather listleSsly declared him
self willing to give her his attention; and
Lila. smiling rather wickedly, vanished
from the room. reappearing soon after with
a large cardboard box under her arm,
which she carefully placed on the table.
What have you got there, my dear?"
asked the captain, in some surprise.
You shall see" replied his wife. But
first promise to let me have my way in this
matter"
Very WE'LL l promise"
sob, you dear foolish Ned! Just see
how much cleverer l am than you!' cried
the little woman exultingly, as she opened
the box and took out several shabby leather
cases.
The captain started as if he had been
shot.
Lila, don't tantalze me like this" he
cried, angrily. what have you got in
those cases?"
MY diamonds-and their fac-simile in
paste" And she displayed mass of gems
that positively dazzled him. Listen to
me for a few moments and l will explain
everything. Soon after you asked me to
sell my diamonds | began to suspect that
you meant to take them from me by strate-
gem, so l resolved to manage the matter my
own way. l knew that if you had yours
| the money would all be swallowed up by
your debts. and besides l should lose every
social advantage the possession of the dia-
mOnds gave me. l therefore arranged my
dresSing-roOm so as to make you think that
the jewels had been annexed by burglars,
and L kept the diamonds sewn in my seal
skin jacket until we left England"
NO wonder the detectives were puzzled.
By >Jove, Lila, didn't give you credit for
such sharpness"
In Paris l took them to the Palais
Royal and had them copied in paste.
Now" she added with bright smile, and,
placing the shabby cases and gIittering con-
tents in his hands, 1.-The real stones are
very much at your service. I shall send
paragraph to the London papers, saying
that my diamonds have been restored to
me anonymously, and shall wear the
paste set at Prince OpoponaX's tomorrow
night. And now, dear" she added, Il
have only one piece of advice to offer: The
next time you are thinking of turning
burglar take your wife into your conf
dence.-London Truth.