The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-09-21


their hostess stayed thcpe explorations.
,sAEsita asomaat! she efica ;sbrapkly,
raising her head. II laye i1lT
! ssKYcllfs sagerly from several
John must have moved it when he
brought in tho tea. That must be it,
Ring the bell, James, and we will ask
| him.
| So it was done. John came IN and the
| question was put to him.
g Yes, air, y he said readily. 81 saw a
bracelet. On this table, by the lamp.
He indicated the table near Lady Lin.
acre.
Did you move it2p
Move it, sir?n the man repeated, sur
prised by the question, the silence, and
the strained faces turned to him. No,
sir; certainly not. I only saw it when
was handing the tea toto Mr.. Wibber-
ley, think it was"
sAh, very well, . his master answered.
"That is all. You may go.
1t was not possible indeed to doubt
the mans face and manner. But when
he had left the room an uncomfortable
Burton Smith said at last, looking from
one to another, and then, for the TWEEN
tieth time, cropping under the table.
1T is very strange" Wibberley mu1-
INJURED He felt bound to say some
thing. He could not free himself from
an idea that the others and particularly
the Indian civilian were casting special
looks at him. He appeared calm
enough, but he could not be sure of
this. He felt rather as If he were each
instant changing color and betraying
himself to every eye. His very voice
sounded forced to his ear as he repeated
fussily: ut is very odd-very oddl
Where can it be?"
at cost" Lady Linacre quavered,
irrelevantly, but by no means imperti-
nently, 1T cost 1900 out there. In
deed it did. And that was before it was
set"
A hush as of awe fell upon the room.
fourteen thousand pounds" Burton
Smith said softly, his hair rising on end.
mo, no" said the old lady, who had
not intended this mystifcation. mot
pounds rupees"
81 understand" he replied, rubbing
his head. "But that is good sum-"
sit is over e1, 900, the Indian civilian
put in, stonily, "at the present rate Of
exchange"
But, good gracious, Jamesi" Mrs.
Burton Smith said impatiently, s'why
are you valuing Lady Linacre's jewelry
instead of finding it for her? The ques-
ton is, Where is it? 1t must be here.
It was on this table fifteen minutes ago
It cannot have been spirited away"
s'If any one her husband began Sc
riously, is doing this for a joke, do
hope
For joker the hostess cried sharp
". ''Impossible!n
IT say, my dear" he persisted, ''if any
one is doing this for a joke hope he will
own up. 1t seems to me that it he's been
carried far enough
There was chorus of assent, half in
dignant, half exculpatory. But no one
owned to the joke. No one produced the
bracelet.
ssWell, never.s Mrs. Burton Smith
exclaimed. And as the company looked
at one another it seemed as if they also
had never known anything quite so ex-
traordinary as this.
Really, Lady Linacre, think that it
must be somewhere about you," said the
host at last. Would you mind giving
yourself good shaker"
She rose and was solemnly preparing
to agitate her skirts when a guest inter
fered. It was the Hon. Vereker May.
"You need not trouble yourself, Lady
Linacre," he said, with curious dry
ness. He was still standing by the fire.
place. 1T is not about you
Then where in the world is it," re-
torted Mrs. Galantine. "Do you known
eff you do, for goodness sake speak
OUT Mrs. Burton Smith added indig-
nantly, while every one turned and
stared at the civilian.
"You had better" he said, task Mr..
Wibberleyr
That was all. But something in his
tone produced an electrical effect on
every one. Joanna in her corner-re-
mote, like the Indian, from the center Of
the sturbance--turned red and pale and
flashed angry chances round her. For
the rest, they wished themselves away.
1t was impossible to misunderstood the
insinuation. The words, simple as they
were, had in moment put graver COM
plexion on the matter. Even Mrs. Bur
ton Smith was silenced, looking to her
husband. He locked furtively at Wib-
berley.
And Wibberley? Up to this moment
he had merely thought himself in an I'M
pleasant fix, from which he must escape
as best he could, at the expense of a little
embarrassment, slight loss of self re-
spect. Even the latter he might regain
tomorrow, if he saw fit, by telling the
truth to Mrs. Burton Smith, and in time
the whole thing would become subject
of laughter, stock dinner anecdote.
But now-now at the first sound of the
Indians voice, he recognized his danger,
and saw clearly in the hundredth part Of
q second that ruin, social damnation, per-
haps worse. threatened him. His pres
ence of mind seemed to fail him suddenly
at sight of the pit opening at his feet.
Hefelt himself reeling, choking, his head
surcharged with blood. The room, the
expectant faces all turned to him, all
with that strange expression on them,