The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-09-12

10 get thoroughly acquainted with tne
settlement in order that might, II pos
sible, discover some clue 20 the missing
diamonds. At the end o. the week ce-
cided that there was not suspicious per
son on the promontory who could, by
any means, obtain possession OF any
stones that were mined. The enclosure
was impregu0hie. and was guarded night
and day by armed men. At evening each
oven iseer marched his band of natives In
To The enclosure. whore every one was
carefully searched, and then they were
marched OUT again and allowed TO as
perse a. their huts at the other side OF
the urumontory. Each ovcrseer was care
fully searched after ne had delivered MS
precious burden provided the day had
been productive 10 Mr.. Forsythe; and
all Wis lrs even | M yself- were searched
whenever leaving the enclosure. IL was
an Gutocratic law, and no one, high or
low, was permitted to waive the cere-
mony.
| poke of visitors, but beside myself
There was no one oIts.ae those actively
9ml loyed, except the native women who
ccasionG ly came 20 the end OF the en-
losure for stores or other assistance, and
Mot her VidcGuX. / saw tbs remarkable
creature for the first time the week after
m : arrival. She cane into the enclosure
toward evening, aud nobbied up to nc.
Fer the $ o .a.e g. demand locd. Her
ale coull not even be guesscd, for nCc
A y
n able wrinkle,, ana mad tIe appear
nuce Uf cd leather. She Hns bent nearly
couUle, Gnd leane. on short sick, but
size walked more brislSly than one would
ST ppose who watched the ralsied snas-
| Ing Ot her fJr!n. III SPOKEN 10 she ptcred
up n, YOU - ieways and disclosed smali
bu. piercing lack eyes, which contrast
cd pictuIesqGely with her snow
w hair. she impressed me
as being more like the siereo,
| tyted stage wich tnan any woman
| had ever seen, ald wondered why she
! WAS permitted TO live in a settler ent
where no oar was iik ly TO be tolerated
| VINO could not cOE,rib4te TO the work III
| hGi G..
Mr.. Forsyhe raised the grating OF his
| VIZ dN aai bcctoncl TO her. s!sne OF
! 't.cG toWard am a.d he IArew her
| nuif-ufed TIN ol Eea i. MothCr NiGtaU&
! mumb bied Ter tLal,iss, ana MADE her way
| 10 the kitchen, where our native cook
/ filled her basket with bread and sornps
( fIon the tfb.e. She sat on the eteTs
/ momel; nad wipe the Jcrspiration nom
I her ece with faded red H korcl ief,
/ and hen ahe took her bas ket and s,arted
I for the gale, where the guard Neit
! through the usual ceremony OF searching
her. Howard Forsylhe was leaning from
! his window, smoking a 81 gar and watch
! ing ht guard 80, l.berste motions.
''N no is the olnany' ! asked.
"Mat her Nideaux2 No one knows
Some say she IL French and others Italian
she ~ eaks English, however, and knows
the native language perfectly. am told
! che came here when the mines were tis
! opeEcd, lie captain % The sesame hat-
ing rescued her rom wreck n mid
I ocean. she lives IN tnat litte cottage
ar lhe grove Rld = neither oi use . or
any partisLlar bother, so we iolcarte her
and feed ner
+ .spoes she live alone?'' inquired, ms her
bent figure rafsed the gate end hobb.od
up the path toNarde the grove.
ENTIRELY 81. The nn es attribute TO
her powers OF sorgery, aVd several times
whei they Rave attempted 10 muiiny
Mother Viaeaux has bought them TO
their senses
"But you say she sends cocoanuts TO
France; does she Get noieIurns from her
salcs?'' Au
Forsythe laughed.
''She gathers fro m The grove about one
barrel n month, and they are not very
valuable. Still, the steamer captains,
knowing her well, are good -natured
enough 10 carry them without charge,
ana her conslgnee,'-s relative, sup
pose---sends her provisions In return,
but scarcely enough to support her.
lie threw away hia cigar and returned
to his work. while turned the subject
over in my mind and considered what
bearings IL might have on my IN ssion.
1t had struck me al once that Mother
| Nideaux was the only mystery in the
whole settlement, and absurd though
the idea night be. ! decided TO watch her
closely. She came 10 lie enc osure regu-
larly twice a weak, ana | noticed that
each time FoTsythe tossed some scrap OF
food into her basket. This in itself
aroused my curiosity,as IL struck me thPt
his donation was scarcely necessary VIII n
the cook presented her with SO liberal al
allowance. 1t might be that he desired
to conciliate her; perhaps he had secret
fear OF her sorCery; at any rate i dis
covered that he ignored all the native
I women who came 10 the enclosure, and
made Mother Videaux the sole recipient
of his benehcenco
Forsythe never breakfsstod with the
rest OF us He always arose late and
boiled pot of coffee in his little office.
All this seemed mysterious To me, and
| began TO hope that at length i had fal-
len upon the track OF the diamond thief.
From the first had had no confidence
in Howard Forsythe, and regretted that
his brother had made him aware OF my
| mission at Bonita. At times he boldness
and presumption OF my suspicion OF this
man, the head OF the mines, and the con-
hdant and brother OF my employer, struck
me forcibly, and almost decided me 20
abandon what must be an unworthy
thoughts but his peculiar actions, together
with the fact that his fellow agents were
worse tnan incompetent, led me TO te-
lieve that was on the right track -
But in spite OF all my efforts the weeks
passed by and / was no nearer a tangible
evidence 10 support my theories than
was at the beginning.
/ -.