Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-02-17
The House on theMarSh:
THE MYSTERY OF THE ALDERS.
By 1LoRENcI WARDEN.

| Anu ou tAouSnC nau on an Orna
ment worth fifteen hundred pounds?''
said 1, laughing heartily. "O:l. if the
person who gave it me could know,
how he would Taught"
He caught at my words.
'':1e would laugh. would hcp'
was annoyed with myself, for ]
had not meant to let out even the sex
of the giver of my pendant. He con-
tinued:
HE would be pleased, I should
think, to have his paste taken for dia-
monds."
did not answer, but only laughed
again.
Have any of the ladies seen it yet,
I Miss Chrstic?'
mo; and for fear that they should
make the same mistake that YOU have
made, | shall not let them," said l.
And l had raised my hands to take it
off when Mrs. Cunningham and anoth-
er lady came into the conservatory.
The elder lady's eyes fell upon the un-
lucky trinkct at once.
"What are you taking that off for,
my dear? 1t is just what you want
round the throat"
because 1 have been teascd about
wearing diamonds, and they are only
sham ones; and l don't want to be
leased any more" said l, rather trem-
ulously.
"Ncvcr mind Tom, my dear. Don't
take Oft your pretty pendant for him.
They are certainly very like, though"
said She, looking first at them and
then into my face. Here, put them
on again and snap your fingers at
Tom
raised the velvet obediently, and
the gentleman called Tom came softly
behind me and took the ends from my
trembling fingers and fastened them
himself round my throat again.
"Aftcr this experience L watched
rather curiously to see the effect the
pendant would have'on the rest of the
party when met them ut the general
gathering at dinner, and noticed thai,
while my pendant attracted the atter-
ton of the ladies, the gentlemen looked
more at myself. Sir Jonas, Lady Mills
husband, Il kind, gray-haired gentle
man, who looked old enough to be her
father, took me in to dinner, and cn-
couraged me to talk.
After dinner Mrs. Cunningham took
me to the other end of the room.
at is no business of mine who gave
you that pendant, my dear; but have
you any more ornaments of the kind,
and, if so, where do you keep themP"
she said, gravcly.
''Oh. | have no more!" I answered.
"And keep this in an old case in the
corner of my desk
"Ah, l thought so, from the careless
way in which you We're going to slip il
into your pocket when we caught you
IN the conservatory Why. my dear
child, have q set that l value very
much-no finer than yours, though
diamonds and cats eycs-and sleep
with them under my pillow, and even
my maid doesn't know where they
are
L showed my establishments.
'Bellcve me, when you travel about
on series of visits, as am doing now,
and are obliged to intrust Your dress,
lng-casc to Il careless maid it is no un.
necessary precaution.'
"But | shouldn't take so much trou-
BILE with my paste pendant" said l.
She shook her head at me, with a
laugh. and said dryly:
81 should with such paste as yours"
And then the gentlemen came in.
One of them had brought from town
that day parcel of new waltzes, but
the ladies all declined to play them un-
til they had tried them over privately;
and the gentlemen seemed so much
disappointed that, having looked them
over and seen that they were very easy,
L offered to play for them. When l
got through the first one they were all
in ecstacies and l received quite an ova-
ton. Those who had begun to dance
joined with the others in praising me.
And played the rest of the waltzes,
enjoying it very much. Then the gen.
tleman they called Tom led me to a
deep window where there were seats,
and gave me one, while he threw him.
self into another beside me-
He complimented me highly, but by
this time l had become so accustomed
to praise that [ was not embarrassed |
and parried his gallantry without
blushlng. Finally he changed the topic
by saying.
~ wonder If you know any of the
people 1 know? Do you know the
Temples, of Crawley Hall?"
No"
"Have you ever been further west
than this-Staffords -Derbyshirc?"
mo, never"
He was looking on the ground; he
raised and fixed his eyes suddenly on
my face as he said:
':Do you know the DalstonsP"
''N-o,n said l, rather hesitatingly,
'tNot Lord Dalston, with his different
crazes? You speak as if you were not
sure.'
II am sure / don't know him." said
l. "But l was trying to remember
what | have heard about him, for l
seem to know the name quite we'll"
In the most gravely persistent man
ner MIR. Carruthers went on probing
my memory about Lord Dalston; but I
could not even remember where had
heard the namc mentioned before.
When, at last, long past the hour
when the household at the Alders re-
tired to rest, we dispersed to our
rooms, made mistake in my COR
ridor, and found myself in one which
led to the servants wing; and I heard
mans voice that l knew saying per-
m a