News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-10-28

l
announced They welcomed rue warmly
looking as if early and unexpected visit
ors were quite common occurrence. an(
between them carried on the usual pre-
liminary thit-c chat about the lovely
weather, the delight of being able t.
breakfast with the window open in tht
month of November, the view, etc, a.
long as the servant remained IN the room
while | stood looking from one to thu
other, solemnly bowing my head il
silent answer to their cheerful remarks
1t is not necessary to relate what passed
suffice it to say that both Sir Fredericb
and Lady O'Connor possessed an unuSu
al share of kindness OF heart and of sym
pathy with other peoples misfortunes
and they endeavored to make my un,
pleasant position as easy for me as posi-
BILE.
Then followed a week of restless ac-
tivity. haunted the police bureau. II
| was not there three times day myself,
l sent Roscoe to find out for me if any
kilograms had arrived on he all-im
portant subject, any clue been found to
throw the slightest light upon 1t.
One lovely afternoon l was walking
down the Promenade des Anglais in
anything but cheerful frame of mind
indeed, l never felt SO utterly
depressed before. Nothing whatever
had been heard of the missing jewels
and during long consultation that
morning with Aigunez, the detective,
he had told me that he firmly believed
that the robbery was the work of one
man, and that the Jewels were still in
Nice. | had been calling at one of the
pretty villas beyond the Var, and was
now making my way down the side of
| the promenade next the house, to the
Hotel de Mediterranee, to talk over
AIGunez's last suggestion with Sir Fred
| erick O'COnnor. As l was passing the
high solid walls of the now quite un-
used cemetery, l noticed that the door
was ajar: and expecting to find there
old Baroni, the cafe taker, whom L
knew, pushed open the door and en-
tered. Nobody was there; all was silent
and solitary. Here and there were un-
tidy heaps of rubbish; tangled, over
grown bushes; and propped against the
walls were two or three grav stones
that had cover ed graves from which the
remains had been removed to some
! family vault elsewhere. L coul not
| help wondering how much aroni re-
| ceived for the amount of care and labor
| he bestowed on the old English burial
| ground When my eyes, which were
uncommonly sharp ones, had become
accustomed to the dark shadows thrown
| by the wall and the brilliant glare
where the shadow-liue ended, | noticed
that a gravestone lying in rather a re-
tired spot appeared, by the fresh looking
| footmarks round it, to have been lately
moved. l do not think that this cir
cumstance would have reused my cIri
osity, in the then preoccupied state of
nv mind, had it not been that close be-
side it large bra ch of a neighboring
tree had been bent down and fastened
firmly to the ground by means of stone.
This arrested my attention, it was so
evidently intended to mark the spot,
Exerting all my strength, l pushed the
stone sufficiently to one side to enable
me to see that 1t concealed small pit.
recently dug, by the look of the mould
round it. 1t was empty managed to
replace the gravestone, and left the Gem
etcry, carefully closing the door behind
me, and glancing round to see if my ac-
tiOns had been observed.
OH 10 tn0 IOl6l,
and con iecturing as to the possible
meaning of the curious little mystery l
had Just discovered That small oblong
pit, for what purpose could it have been
prepared? My first idea was that muir
der had been or was about to be commit
ted, and in this way it was intended to
get rid of the victims body; but the hole
was certainly not large enough for
grown person. Was it possible that it
was to be the unblessed, unadorned
tomb of some little Cne. done to death
by pitiless earthly guardians, who found
its frail helpless life burden to them?
That was too hideous to fancy. Sud
denly the thought struck me that it
might be a hiding place for property
BY Jove, the diamondsl
At that moment | reached the Medl-
terranee, and going up the broad stairs
three at time in my excitement, |
knocked at the door of the O'Connors'
sitting-room Sir Frederick was alone.
smoking, with the last number of the
World in his hand.
81 felt sure that you would come in
this afternoon, " he said, as he pushed
his segar case towards me, $50 l put off
going to the club. What is the latest
intelligence"
first told him of Aigunez's opinion
that the Jewels were still in Nice, an
opinion which had now gained for me
double significance Then 1 unfolded
my own budget, and told him of all |
had seen in the cd cemetery which had
been closed for so many years.
This put Sir Frederick into the wild
est spirits. ''We've got them now,
Blake 'he exclaimed, 'and no mistake
about it. They've run themselves into
a nice trap. OF course these are the
rascals we're after. What do you say?
Don't set my heart upon it in case of
disappointment. Nonsense, my dear fell
low Don't you see they cannot get rid
of diamonds like those in a hurry, and
not being able to leave the town puts
them IN a regular fix ? 1t is very dan
gerous for them to keep such valuable
things about them, and now they flatter
themselves that they have found an un-
commonly safe hiding place. Why,
Fate must have led you by the very
nose to that door this afternoon
l laughed. at is as we'll for us, per
haps, that l did not feel her fingers, or
things might have turned out different
ly. We had better settle our plan of
action for to night, as it won't do to let
this chance slip. How fortunate there
is no moon. 1t will be as black as
Erebus inside those high walls"
''Our best plan," said Sir Frederick,
'Eis, / think, to hide ourselves there as
soon as it Is dark. " may have a long
time to wait but then, again, we may
not, and we are much less likely to be
observed if we slip in early in the even
ing"
"Then 1 will call for you, Sir
Frederick, as soon as it is dark
enough, answered "And allow me
to suggest that we do not take Aigunez
into our confidence, for it will be
triumph indeed to cut out the far
famed French detective in his own line
of business.
| left the hotel with a lighter heart
than | had carried about with me for
some time. Though | had cautioned
Sir Frederick not to be too sanguine, |
was myself convinced that we should
have the diamonds in our possession be-
fore morning. Iwent back to my rooms,
wrote some letters, dined, and then tried
to quiet my excited mind by pacing up
and down the sitting room, smoking
my usual st-prandial cigar, till l
thought it was sufficiently daIk to ven
ture forth. The church clocks were
striking ten as | arrived at the Mediter-
rance Hotel, and | found Sir Frederick
performing the same restless quarter
deck constitutional on the pavement
outci6o