The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-01-21

piIlaging the plate basket. She was a tai
and handsome woman, with g remarkably
self-possessed manner, for she advanced TO
greet ms without the least sign Of discern.
posure. Being in q most agitated state Of
To %'l her %y except ' tSas I should c wrai s1 be
back before she could find a seat. Then /
rushed away to the library, where the first
thing that struck me was the disappear
ance Of my ivory paper knife. Miss Mildew,
put of a corner, but, without a word, I fled.
thinking that by SO doing I might alarm
her more than by anything else.
to the hall door at once" said to
James, who happened to be passing, and on
the house until l tell you"
It really was a frightful scene that met
my gaze in the boudoir. Mrs. Dark had
discovered in an Indian cabinet a secret
drawer of which / had had no knowledge:
and this drawer had apparently contained
a large quantity Of jewelry, all of which
felt sure had been appropriated by poor
Maria. In order to fill her pocket more
easily, Mrs. Dark was seated upon the floor,
with the whole collection of rings, brace
let's and brooches in her lap, and a paper in
her hand.
She was a bushy-browed, keen-eyed
elderly snS 2 ! ., wGms stao with very cgs saaa re shoulder ssD ba1gs
featured face and coarse hands was enough
to show that she belonged to a different
class from those of my. other VISITORS
fact that rather surprised me, for he- letter
Iheard her speak I was driven to conclude
she had not penned it without assistance.
IL, indeed. she had anything to do with it,
Strangely enough, too, she was the only
Of embarrassment at being caught thieving
She laughed, it is true, but the laughter had
\ very forced ring However, she recovered
much sooner than 1 did. After closing the
cabinet she crammed all The jeweiry into
"Looks fishy, don't iaf' said Mrs. Dark.
scrutinizihg me from head to foot:
"You are a very brazen-faced woman"
said !, carefully keeping between her and
pawn the things Maria had taken there
would be a terrible explosion.
"Well," said Mrs. Dark with an irritating
p~retense at resignation, 81 suppose hard
names are all in the days work. What
job Of looking after Your wsife"
I WINGED at this.
Hand over the property you have
stolenp I angrily exclaimed: "Youc al
SThat's ali right. But stolenw The
abandoned woman was actually winking
at mel That's a hard word, too. How
many kleptomaniacs have you got slowed
about the house?"
give, including yourself"
they'll carry off every stick Of furniture
il YOU don't watch them,', said Mrs. Dark,
laughing. 1.-THE very idea of putting them
in separate roomsl It's just like a man.
Shall I help you to make the others fork
out? Set a thief to catch a thief, you
know"
I jumped eagerly at this suggestion.
hoping to come to terms with Mrs: Dark
after the rest of my tormentors had been
got rid of. She undertook the manage
ment, and, I must admit, went about hei
work in a very business-like way. In a
wonderfully short space of time the six Of
us were collected in the drawing-room, all
sitting down except Mrs. Heslop, who pre-.
ferred standing; supposed she was vexed
at having been left in the hall, but the real
reason came out presently.
cts no use trying to soap it over" began
Mrs. Dark, looking round the circle; "we're
| all k~leptomaniacs. It's not our fault, of
there's nc harm in owning to it. And what
we are is one thing, and what people think
of us is another. How is this gentleman
here to know Pm net a humbugl He ad-
| the real genuine article, I take it. But how
is he to Know he has got his moneys worth
unless he tests us2 An incapable klepto-
maniac would be just as bad as a vulgar
thief. So what I propose is that the I've Of
US should empty u pockets, chignons, and
such like places of resort for missing
articles, for" said Mrs. Dark, smiling conn
placently, "In lay a tenner to a brass farth-
ing, ladies, you've not been idle"
Though the terms Of this proposal were
considered Objectionable, it was eventual;
agreed to, Mrs. Heslop strongly protesting
on the ground that she had no opportunity
of showing her powers. However, l told
her that unless she took part in the compe-
| tition she would nave no chance of being
appointed to the post. and. as she had no
valuable prize to set off against the salary,
| she recognized the expediency of yielding.
Mrs Heslop was the first who was called
upon to exhibit what she had got, And
here q little difficulty arose which explained
her objection to sitting down. It turned
out that she had improved herself-that,
believe, is the correct expression-with my
| gong, and accompanied by Mrs. Dark, she
had to retire in order to produce it. A
completed her spoils. She was very wroth
with James, who, she declared, had grossly
insulted her by s~tationing himself in the
hall to watch her, just as if she were a com
She had scarcely finished speaking when
the door opened, and, to my horror, Maria
walked in. What she must have thought OF
me, sitting there with these five women,
will be rendered obvious the subject has
never been discussed between us. She
looked as if, by some mistake, she had
entered the wrong house.
81 see you are engaged" she said al
length, and was about to withdraw.
Twas too confused to speak or move
But Mrs. Dark begged her to remain, and
she did remain. She sat down close to me
and watched and listened like one in 6
dream. Learned afterward that Uncle Joe
had had an attack of govt, hence Maria's
return at an unexpectedly early hour.
There is no need to describe in detail the
process of disgorging. Miss Mildew pro
duced my ivory paper knife, a m Of
two books; Mrs. Stone very nearly the
whole contents of the plate basket. ano
Miss White many objects of bric-a-brac
and-without a blush on her mournful face
my gold vase! All the things were laiC
on a table which 1 had cleared for that pur
pose and set in the center Of the circle. A:
she gazed at her superior pile, Miss White
put away her handkerchief and smiled
while the other three looked as ii they
could have eaten her.
"And now it's my turn,'' said Mrs. Dark
pleasantly.
with which she emptied a huge poke,
into her lap, and there came tumbline
out all the jewelry which I hae
for the first time Mrs. Arbuthnot's brace
let. In my dismay ! could not help
stealing a glance at Maria, but, except fol
a look Of wonderment, her beautiful face
was as calm as il the whole transaction had
no interest for her.
Isl think you'll admit, ladies' said Mrs
Dark, with satisfaction, 'that I've licked
the lot of you"
lACio "OlC OIL Sui1CLbo, vi Soulo Q
were many reasons given for setting aside
the verdict. And, when logic failed, abuse
was poured out without stint. The -four de
feated ladies declared themselves to be the
victims of an infamous conspiracy origin.
ated by Mrs. Dark. But, in the enc we
escorted them to the door and they de
parted, Miss White weeping copiously
Looking back at their conduct-which l can
do calmly now-I must say that my only
feeling is one OF pity for them. / am
morally certain that they had no more
sense of wrong-doing than poor Maria has
When they were gone l interviewed Mrs
certain suspicious in my mind.
"May l ask your objects" l inquired Of
her.
~ have been put up to'this job by the
police"
81 thought so.-
Here" said she, bringing out the pape,
which l had already seen in her hand, SIS q
list Of the missing things, toe last of the lo
| ha,.~ q Iy, 1alaf ha1o-rfno IN Mrs. Ar1rrfA