The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-09-12

but she was not quite sure.
''If it is there, and / could only get
it." sis thought, 81 shot i not mind. J"
While she was rejecting knock was
heard on the door of the room. She saw
the dark man instantly draw back into
| the cupboard and close it after him.
She felt relieved that those two horri-
BILE eyes we're taken off her; they seemed
to pierce her like daggers.
"Come in" she said. The maid en-
tered.
81 thought you had gone to bed" OBJ
served Nine. Lucca, in a tone of I'M
concern.
81 was going, please your ladyship;
but I-I-thought you might perhaps
want something"
81 told you l would be my own lady's
maid tonight. No, the only thing l
want is to stretch my limbs little,
for they are cramped from long sitting"
Speaking thus, Nine Lucca arose with
an air of admirably acted Indifference
and took turn or two across the room,
passing close to the cupboard as she did
so. She afterwards declared she
thought she could hear the man
breathe in his place. He, on his part,
might have heard her heart beat, she
said, when on looking at the keyhole
she found that the key had been re-
moved. She was foiled in her plan,
which had been to lock him in. Still,
her presence of mind did not desert
her.
"Ah, dear mer' she said, yawning, 81
feel very sleepy"
''Sleepy, your ladyship! Iwish l did, -
replied the maid. Il don't feel sleepy.
l am too frightened"
Enlightened! What are you frightened
of, you foolish girl? Nonsense" replied
Nine. Lucca.
"Oh! begging your ladyship's pardon,
it is not nonsense. and that's just it
How can you be sure that some villain,
some goodfor-nothing fellow, hearing
that you and are alone in the house,
may not murder US in or beds? But he
Shan't murder me in mine; for, with
your ladyshipS permission, | will sit up
all night in your ladyship's easy chair. :"
Nine. Pauline Lucca glanced at the
cupboard.
Her blood ran cold.
She dared not give her maid the
slightest hint of the real state of mat
tiers: she felt that the girl would go into
fit then and there, and thus bring on
crisis.
Scarcely knowing what she was doing,
Nine. Lucca replied at random:
Murder us? What for?'
"What for, your ladyship? Why. for
your money-for your jewels, to be sure;
nearly everybody knows that you have
plenty of them"
The girl must have been unconscious
ly sharpening, SO to speak, the knife by
which she and her mistress were doomed
to die.
"What absurdity." said Nine. Lucca,
with forced laugh.
| AS she spoke her eyes wandered from
the keyhole of the dreaded cupboard to
that of the adjoining room. In the lat
ter there was key. Her face flushed,
and q smile, as it were, of proud in
spirat Jon LIGHTED up. though only for a
"Jewels?" she replied. "Why, every
one with a particle of sense must know
| that | would not take them about with,
me as rule. They, of course, are safe
strange thing, though, that to-day is
an exception. ] expected the Countess
! Won Wartenstein to call, and l brought
down all the jewels presented to me at
my last visit to ST. Petersburg to show
her.
"Your ladyship did! Oh, but suppos-
ing thief"
easily make his fortune" she observed,
interrupting her companion.
by numbering US, and running off
with the jewels"
Nine. Lucca glanced at the cupboard;
then raising her voice, she continued:
''Oh! there would be no necessity for
murder. The door which leads from
that room to the garden is unlocked; l
forgot to lock it. A thief would mere
ly have to walk in from the garden. and
take my jewel case from the table near
the window. He might make his es-
cape richer by 10000 or 10000 thalers,
and never be detected. That's better
than numbering people, is it not?"
ooh, yes-your ladyship. And he
might get over to England or Amer
ica.'
Nothing easier" replied Nine. Lucca.
However, that reminds me. I may as
well lock the door leading into the gar
den. Run to the dining-room. You'll
find the key on the table. Do not be
long"
mo your ladyship, will not. Trust
me for that"
"Editha! Edithaw cried Nine. Lucca,
an instant afterwards. 81 have made a
mistake. The key is on the barons
study table. Pshaw! she does not hear
me-" she continued, speaking aloud. ~
must go and get it myself"
With these words she left the room.
No sooner had she done so than the door
of the cupboard cautiously opened. A
man put his head out, and glanced
round. Perceiving no one he darted in
to the adjoining chamber.
The next instant the door was shut
and locked behind him. But not by
him. BY Nine. Lucca. When she left
the room she did not proceed two PAGES;
she stood outside listening. AS she