The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-04

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| means. and the practice of rigid econo-
| my. he ought to be able in the course of
| a couple of years to clear off his debt 70
| Verschoyle to the last shilling. But that
| would by no means stop the latter's
| tongue: indeed. he would have Just cause
| for complaint at having 10 wait so long
for the final settlement of a debt which
had been contracted on the tacit under
standing that it would be paid in fun in
the course of a few weeks at the most.
or course, for Eerschoyle to hlurt out
the truth about the affair. as he UNI
doubtedly would. practically meant So
cial extinction for Fairclough and his
wife. Most of us have our own little
world of friends and acquaintances,
circle, however restricted, in which so
cially we live and move and have our
being. and to be ostracized from that
circle, however low the value may be al
which we rate its privileges, can never
be other than a painful process.
He rose and crossed to the window
and peered out into the deepening gloom.
He could see, by the unbroken refiec-
ton of the lamplight on the wet road
way. that the rain had ceased. He did
not expect his wife home for couple
of days. and lacking her presence, the
place was intolerable. He would dress
and go down TO his club-as Yet there
was no fear Of his coming across Yer
schoyle-and dine there. Not much
longer would he be privileged TO do so.
He proceeded leisurely with his dress
ing. He had reached that frame Of mind
when to have settled on a definite plan
of action, and to have sternly forced
ones self to confront the worst that can
happen. comes as positive relief To
the state of mental torture one has had
to go through before arriving at it. He
was i'm the act Of manipulating his white
tie when a certain fact flashed across
his memory which. till that instant. he
had absolutely, but most unaccountably.
forgotten. For a few seconds the color
faded from his face, and he sat down on
the nearest chair to recover himself.
While he had been worrying himself al
most to the verge of suicide, there had
lain all the time close TO his hand the
means which would enable him TO meet
NeTschOyle with a smiling face and re-
deem his / o L. What an idiot he must
have been not to have called to mind
before that his wife's diamond necklace
was locked up in the safe in the bedroom,
as it had been from the day he and Clara
set up housekeeping in Pendragon-
square,
The necklace in question had been the
gift of Clara's godfather. Maj. Stain
forth. on her twenty-first birthday
There had been no stipulation attached
to the present, but merely request that
the necklace should not be disposed of
except under the pressure Of necessity.
it having originally belonged to the
donors mother. and so valued by him
dCCOr0lnglN. 10 CARA SUCH d iSkuCSt
had all the force of a command: but her
husband was inclined now and then TO
grumble a little at the uselessness of the
gift They were in a measure debarred
from finding a customer for 1T and add
ing the proceeds of its sale to their
modest banking account while for
person in his wife's position to have
decked herself out in an article which
countess might have been proud to wear
would have merely served 10 excite envy
and provoke invidiOus comments among
the circle of here acquaintance. Besides
although the stones which composed the
necklace were of the first water the
setting was altogether rocco and out OF
date.
There, then, in its velvet-lined case
in the small safe-built into the bed
room wall by previous occupant of the
fiat-the necklace had repOSed for the
past four years. seldom looked at and
rarely thought about. No one knew of
its presence there except the two people
concerned: consequently, they had no
fears as to its safety.
What Fairclough now proposed to
himself was. not to sell tin point of
fact. il was not his 10 dispose Of-but to
pawn it for the exact sum in which he
was indebted to Nerschoyle. He would
tell Clara Immediately on her return
what he had done, and-although the
confession would be a painful one, and
one which would inevitably lower him
somewhat in her eyeS-eXplain TO her
the dire compulsion under which he had
acted. That she would shed some tears
he did not doubt. but at the same time
he felt assured that he could count on
her forgiveness.
The mental reaction was so complete
and overwhelming that presently he
caught himself laughing aloud as fnane-
y as he might have done had he par
taken Of TOO much wine. Then il struck
him that it might be as well to make
himself absolutely sure of the presence
of the necklace. There were two keys
to the safe. of which his wife held one
and he the other. \ minute later the
necklace was in his hands scintillating
and flashing back a many-colored radi-
ance as he held il up in the lamplght.
He gave great sigh of satisfaction as
he replaced il in the safe That night
the first time for many nights-Edgar
Fairclough slept as soundly as a man
who has not a care in the world.
The clocks were striking IL next morn
ing as he discharged the hanson which
had brought him from Pendragon
square After walking little way
farther along the Strand. he turned
down one Of those side streets leading
To the embankment. which at that hour
of the day are comparatively deserted.
Then presently, after a quick precau-
tiOnary glance round. he dived into a
narrow semi-dark passage, and pushing
open at random the first door he came
to. found himself in one Of those mvs-
FERROUS boxes the like Of which are to
be met with at one class of establish
ment only
II was not the first time he had been
engaged on a like errand. More than
once in his salad days he had "outrun
the constable" and been driven to ne
gotiate a temporary advance on some of
his portable belongs; but all such trans
actions had been of triflng account i'm
comparison with the one on which he
was now engaged. He knew that il
would have been useless for him to at
tempt to borrow the sum he was in need
of from any of the ordinary class of pawn
brokers' and he had accordingly brought
the necklace to one Of the well-known
establishments of Messrs. Lippmann
who may be termed the Rothschilds of
their peculiar business.
Extracting the morocco jewelcase
from the breast pocket of his coat
Fairclough pushed it across the counter
TO the gentlemanly looking assistant on
the other side. How much?" queried
the latter. in the blandest of tones as his
fingers closed over the case.
"Six-fifty." responded Fairclough I'm a
voice which he scarcely recognized for
his own
The assistant opened the case, took
out the necklace. and carried 1t away
with him beyond the others limited
range Of view. He was away so long
that FairclOugh began To fdget with
and bending over the counter, said with
a sort of mystery in his tone: Did |
understand you to say, sir, that you re-
uuirp1 an advance OF g66O IN the