Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-16

that Dr. Nelson had not found it. if, indeed,
1t was in the catch-all. And yet, the doc
tor was going away. He had not ask ed why
Warren was on his knees before the cham
Der window. He was cool, collected man,
who could readily mask his emotions. The
diamond must be sought for-but not until
the doctor had gone. Then there were those
other terrible thoughts-when might not
Dutton in his delirium expose those secrets
which even the doctor in his ignorance of
the facts judged to be Of such Importance
that he advised Warren to conceal them
What would be buttons course if he should
recover? Why had he gone to Sam Spring
er's cabin on the mountain?
Worrying thus, Mr.. Warren stood at the
gate until the doctor galloped away. Then
he stepped to the window of the spare room
and looked in. His wife had drawn low
chair to the side Of the bed and sat with
her head resting on her arm, apparently
asleep. The patient was as quiet as II
death had claimed him.
Mr. Warren dropped again to his knees
and resumed his methodical feeling of the
ground. He began where he had left Off
when the doctor interrupted him. With
growing nervousness he observed that he
had covered in his search more than the
space that included all the useless trifes
that he recognized as having been probably
| in the catch-all.
Then it suddenly occurred to him that If
| the catch-all had been emptied with a
| toss, which would be the natural way for
stone would have gone further from the
| window than light articles like shreds of
| worsted. Indeed, the very presence of the
shreds two or three feet from the side
| of the house showed that the action had
| been a toss and not mere turning upside
| down of the little basket
| He Immediately extended his line of
search, and a moment later at the base of
tall sunf1ower he found a pebble. He
| looked at it with a frown. Could that be
| what he had taken from buttons vest
pocket? 1t hadn't much sparkle as a
fragment of quartz crystal, it was posi-
lively ugly, as uninteresting a stone as
| he had seen by roadside. And yet it
seemed different somehow from the stones
around about GraEite.
Mr.. Warren sat in the grass and tried to
recall the little he had read about dia-
| monds. The only thing he could remember
that helped him at all in his perplexity
was something about cutting diamonds, and
me phrase diamond in the rough" required
to him. Perhaps it needed only the work
of the cutter to make this univiting pebble
sparkle with all the hues of the rainbow.
The impatient lowing of cattle reminded
him that it was past time for beginning the
morning chores, and he went to the barn,
taking the pebble with him for further eX-
| animation and speculation.
Shortly after he had gone Golding came
swinging down the road and turned in at
the gate. AS he did SO he caught sight of
Warren entering the barn, and his eyes
shone with satisfaction. He. too went to
the chamber window as Warren had done,
and he, too, saw Mrs. Warren overcome
with fatigue at the bedside of the patient
Golding softly tried the front door. It
was locked. Elsie had taken that rather
| unusual precaution the night before, and
when DIR. Mason left the house he had gone
out by way of the kitchen. Golding stepped
| to the corner of the house and looked to-
| ward the barn. Warren was not in sight.
| Presumably he was milking and would be
occupied there a half hour more. The
81 was toll ioc
Golding walked quickly and softly around
| to the kitchen door and went in. From
what had occurred during the previous
evening he judged that one of the doors
| municated directly with the spare room,
| but he chose not to enter that way. In
stead he went into the hall and unlocked
| the front door, opening it until its creak-
| ing warned him to desist. Then he eau
| tiously entered the sick room.
The attitudes of patient and watcher
| were unchanged. Mrs. Warren was not
| disturbed by his movements. Golding went
| clothes had been laid. He went through
| the coat pockets first, taking out all the
letters and papers that Mr.. Warren had
Sound and left unexamined. Golding ran
| them over hastily, and his face betrayed
| a sense of triumph when he came upon an
offical-looking document in a heavy en-
| velope. He read it hastily and thrust it
| into his pocket with the other papers. Then
| he thought better Of his action, took out
buttons papers and replaced them in the
| pocket of buttons coat, first making a
| memorandum upon an envelope Of his own
from the document that had interested him
so greatly.
Next he turned to the patients trousers.
| neglectin;s the vest altogether. He brought
| forth a knife and bunch of keys. The
knife he slipped back, and he thrust the
| keys into his own pocket with a Jingle
| just as Mrs. Warren started up and cried:
What are you doing there, Mr.. Gold
| ing?'
ITO he continued tomorrow)