Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1888-02-16

I didn't find il in the house. b
said quickly.
Oil not in the house. repeated th'
imperturbable inspector.
No. / found it-ahenl-in th,
scraper. said Mr.. Griffenhoof, lookin,
at the inspector almost defiantly.
| Obi In the scraper," said his tor
mentor. in the same monotonous tone
i Well. ! mean under the scraper,
said Mr.. Grifenhoof. getting NOR,
and more desperate with the inspec.
tors piercing eve upon him. I fancy
Mrs. Grifenhoof must have dropped
It as she was mounting the steps that
evening when we went out TO dinner,
and the star was probably swept by
her drss andsr the scrapsr. Strange
hiding-place. eh. inspector? Shouldn't
have thought Of looking there if il
hadn't been for-ahem-sudden sus.
picion. don't you knowl No occasion
to trouble you any more, and here is
a halfa-soyereign for you: good even.
ing"
With this, Mr.. Griffenhoof fairly
turned tail, and -bolted out of the
police Office. so dreadfully uneasy and
nervous did he feel in the presence
of the inspector. It was in vain that
he endeavored to shake off an uncom-
Portable foreboding which possessed
him, that he had by no means succeed
ed in hoodwinking the police. and that
he might hear more of the matter.
What consoled him was, however, that
it was difficult to imagine that the
inspector could find any excuse for in
terfering further. Having been dis
tinetly informed that the star had been
found, the services Of the police could
obviously be no longer excusable,
whether his story of the circumstances
of the recovery Of the ornament had
borne the impress of truth or the re.
verse.
After the unpleasant ordeal he had
undergone, Mr.. Griffenhoof naturally
concluded that he had carried his joke
far enough, and he therefore deter
mined to produce the diamond star
and to ally his poor wife's anxiety
without further mystery. He, there
fore, upon reachiug home. went
straight to his study and opened the
drawer Of his escritoire, when, to his
horror and amazsment, he discovered
th't the star had disappeared
There could be no doubt it, though
for long time Mr.. Griffenhoof could
not believe his eyes, and searched the
drawer several times over without
success. His first idea was to rush
ont Of the room, and proclaim that he
had been robbed-for such undoubted-
ly was the case. But when he re-
fiected that the diamond star was
never supposed to be in his possession.
and remembered, moreover, that he
had taken the trouble to 60 to the
police station for the express purpose
of saying that the fatal ornament had
been found that very evening, he be-
gun dimly to foresee complications
which made him decide to take time
to consider the unexpected situation.
He said nothing to his wife, there.
fore, except that he had stopped the
action of the police to avoid scandal
and bother, intimating. very feelingly,
that be supposed he should have to
make good to Mrs. Jennings the loss
she had sustained.
This. indeed, was the course which
Mr.. Griffenhoof reluctantly decided
to take, and what chiefly influenced
him was the presentiment of the
awkward figure he would cut il he
went TO the police again, and admitted
that his elaborate statement had been
q fiction. So unaccountable would his
conduct appear, as it seemed to him
when he came to think the matter
over, that it would almost warrant
the suspicion that he had intended to
appropriate Mrs. Jennings property
for his own use. He felt that the
oold.blooded inspector would not be-
lieve for an instant that he had only
intended to play an innocent joke up
GA his wife, and it was awful TO con.
template incurring slur upon his
character by giving publicity of the
fact, i was tantalixing to think that
The thief-who might be one of his
own servants-would get of scot free,
not TO mention the serious unpleasant
ness Of the pecpaiary loss Involved;
bal 50 terrified was Mr.. GrifIeuhOof at
the prospect Of further interview
With the hated Inspector that he pre-
ferrei TO be the victim of his folly
rat.er than confront him again.
The unforfnnsta Ar f3riffanbo.,l