The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-06-24
CHAPTER VIII.

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Slurk had thro1On himself touOard me.
It occurred TO me the next morning
that, considering the nature of the work
that was cut out for me, it might be pru-
dent to depart from my usual custom by
leaving the diamonds at home in Chris
tina's charge, as she had herself sug-
gested, and took the earliest Opportu-
nifty of mentioning this proposal to Kate.
70 my surprise she at once expressed a
decided dissent from the arrangement,
and indeed seemed so much perturbed
by it that 1 at once relinquished the
idea But | begged her to tell me the
reasons of her objection.
mot now" she said hastily; 81 hear
papa coming; wait till after breakfast
and then you shall know"
We were standing at the gate of the
courtyard, breathing the fresh morning
air. She left me and returned to the
house, whence Mr.. BirchmOre almost
Immediately issued and saluted me with
more than his usual cordiality. l won
dered what his behavior would have
been had he known of the transactions
of the past night or of what was in store
for us during the day. He began to talk
about Kohlstein, and related several
anecdotes of the bandits by whom 1t was
said formerly to have been inhabited.
Il have been up there more than
once" he remarked, land the traces of
their occupation are still visible. | re-
member one feature that particularly
impressed me-a narrow cleft or chasm
of considerable depth, into which the
old fellows are said to have thrown their
prisoners when they became refractory.
Would the fall kill them?'
81 should say not; the bottom seemed
full of chopped brushwoOd and other
such rubbish. But no human being
could have got out unaided, and proba-
bly, day or two's lonely sojourn there
would bring the most resolute malcon-
tent to terms. It would be CHASTITY
fate to fall IN there nowadays. and have
ones skeleton hshed out again the fol-
lowing year perhaps, and sensational
paragraph in the newspapers. You
young folks must pick your steps care
fully today"
''Forewarned is forearmedT rejoined
1, with a short laugh. Further CONVEX
sation was cut short by summons to
breakfast. On this occasion Slurk wait
ed at table, and | observed him with
more than usual attention and tolera-
ton, as one with whom | was soon TO
try desperate conclusions. He was GER
tainly a villainous looking character,
but he appeared to be, for reasons best
known to himself, in excellent spirits
this morning-a circumstance which
stirred up an unwilling kind of compass
sion within me, rejecting what speedy
and final end was going to be put to all
his possibilities of enjoyment. Vile
though his life had been, it was the
only one he had.
Kate likewise had the semblance of
unusual gayety, but | could see that 1t
was either feigned or the result of nerV-
Gus excitement. And my judgment was
justified when after breakfast she over
took me as | was on the way up stairs to
my room to make my final preparations,
and said, in voice unsteady with emo
ton:
Tom, dear, you asked me why you
might not leave your diamonds with
Christina. You do not know what
danger you were in last night! On my
way back to my room l heard two peo-
pie talking together, and they mentioned
your name, So | stopped and listened.
One said, The bolt is all right; had
better 20 in and risk it; he'll be certain
to be asleep by this timer And then the
other said: He has his revolver; leave it
to me; he believes he can trust me. To-
morrow, when he goes out, I'll get him
to leave them with me for safetyP and
then they both laughed. My darling.
Fla, I,o,,so - n on Of tbiavaSp'
Were the persons you heard-who
were they?"
Christina and that creature she calls
her father. Hushl There she comes.
She must not see us together" and in a
moment Kate had glided away. | went
on up the stairs with a heavy heart |
would almost rather not have heard this
last revelation. My confidence in my
penetration had received a humiliating
shock. To think that Christmas limo
cent face and modest, maidenly air con-
cealed the heart of a thief, or, worse
still, of decoy duck, was blow to my
vanity as well as to my faith in human
nature. How artful she had been when
1 fancied her most ingenious and kind!
And then it all at once flashed upon
me-what if Heinrich Rudolph himself
were in the plot? What if he had written
them to be on the outlook for me, and
what if Slurk, being secretly in league
with him, had contrived to get the
Birchmores and me along with them
into this house, intending to divide the
spoil with Herr Rudolph and Christina?
Many signs seemed to point to this as a
true deduction from the circumstances,
and even as / was rather grimly consid-
ering the matter, new confirmation OF
Hates discovery awaited me. Christina
was standing at NY room door, and as
came up she courtesied and said:
81 was wishing to speak moment to
Herr Gainsborough, if he would per-
init me-"
What do you want?' asked some
what roughly.
docs the honored Herr remember
what l said yesterday"
THAT you wished me to give you my
diamonds for safe keeping? Yes; and /
have TO answer that | am not quite SO
trustful as you seem to thinkI"
The scornful and severe tone in which
l spoke evidently startled her; but she
still affected not to understand.
ut was for Herr Gainsborough's own
>>sake"- she began, but interrupted her.
N%Do you remember what 1 said yester-
dayfUthat | went armed; well, / am
armed today, and whoever tries to teach
me how to take care of my diamonds
may happen to get bullet instead; so
let him beware. If Herr Rudolph Is
anxious about me, you can tell him that"
'Herr Gainsborough will be sorry to
have spoken So" said Christina, eolorine
deeply, and with tremuious lip,