The Progress., 1896-05-28


course Mrs. FairhOlme has forgotten t
give it to me. I'll ask her about it,
Conscious of her dupIicity, Dick coUl
scarcely force himself to be civil to her
But she appeared not to notice his no
rOSeness, and in the evening she rOs
from tn" piano suddenly, as though OF
impulse.
by the way she said, "have yOl tn
key of the strong-rOom, Dick? mean
to ask you before and forgot. ! Shoult
50 mach like to see the family jewels
Your uncle told me that he has some
wonderful rubicS which he br0uSh
from India Bring them down, there:
a dear boy"
The dear boy brought them doWl
with the best grace in the world. Mrs
Farholmc admired the jewels anC
played with them like child with
new toy. But the rubies seemed espe'
cially to captivate her fancy.
"They are magnificent" she said, and
her eyes were almost as bright with OK
| element as the gems themselves. Il
never saw anything like them. And
| the diamonds are fine, too. But those
| OldfashOned settings are horrible.
shall have them all reset at once. DO
you know the address Of good jew
| eleT?"
"Linklater Of Bond street, is one OF
the best, believe. But if you will cX-
CuSe my saying so, don't you think the
matter will keep till the coloners re-
turn? I'm not sure that he would care
to have them altered
oh he won't object If it is my wish, y
she said sweetly. 81 am going into the
town early tomorrow. | shall wire
myself to Linklater's to send one of
their people to fetch them
He quietly ran up to London In the
morning and paid visit to Mr.. Link
later to whom he explained the cir2um-
stances and then requested that the
stones should not be unset until they
heard from the colonel himself
But my dear sir" the jeweler said,
II know nothing Of these jewels. No
such telegram as you mentioned has
been received by us"
The September afternoon was waning
when he got back to BrOadwater, and
Mrs. Fairholme, superb in a velvet dir
ner gown, swept across the hall to meet
him.
You tiresome fellow" she said play
fully, where have you been all day?
The man from Linklater's has been here
since three o'clock waiting for you to
come home with the strong-room keys.
"Oh, Of course, I forgot He has
come for the jewels, hasn't he? Ill
fetch them"
But when he reappeared his hands
were still empty.
I'm awfully sorry, Mrs. Fairholme,"
he said coolly, "but I've mislaid my
keys, | hope haven't dropped them out
OF doors"
Il don't think it will be much use
for them" she replied, with
an unpleasant laugh. II shall have a
Iocksmith down from London the first
thing in the morning. And the jew
alers man shall wait"
Dick wrote out telegram and gave 1t
10 a groom with a sovereign.
"Send it off at once, Rogers, and
keep a still tongue in your head"
The message ran as follows:
"To Colonel Fairholme on board the
Australia mail steamer Oratava at Ma
,les:
Return overland. Imperative bust
less. Do not fail. Dick"
If the colonel obeyed, he would be at
ZONE in three days-that is to say, four
lays before he would have arrived I'M
Ter ordinary circumstances-four days
,efore he was expected by Mrs. Fair
lolme.
When the locksmith arrived, Dick |
ad little private conversation with
i'm. and a bank note changed hands I
IS result, the man told Mrs. Fairholme {
hat the Job was long one, and that {
e could not undertake to accomplish II
nder three days r
The mysterious man who was not |
rom Bond street, went away, and on t
he third afternoon returned but the Y
door was not yet opeced. O
he workman was awaiting instruc- g
Ons. n
About Eve o'clock there was a rattle !,
wheels in the avenue, and somebody r
ing the door bell. The next moment .
le colonel, in travelling cap and ulster, ;,
epped into the lamplight. Mrs. Fair 9,
)lme shrieked and sprang to her feet, =;
returning the bamboo table with y.
ash. :.
Colonel Fairholme" she gasped wild -
Home already" y"
Mrs. Bellarmne! Bless me, what a u
markable thing. Why, I thought ] ~
ID left you In Melbourne" IS
Then she's not your wife," ex- I'll
aimed Dick, aghast. al
my wife" cried his uncle, perpIexed
ir7itability. "You know very we'll pl
We no wife, sir! I met this lady and &C
r husband in Melbourne, and hey pl
ry kindly nursed me through my bout st
influenza. l told you so in my let be
g" VI
If course the man from Linklater's'
IS her husband, and the pair of ad- on
lturers, knowing the colonels plans II