The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-18

And consequently did not see the
body before giving the certificate" per-
sisted Ben.
Il suppose so. hut was that inform
al? He knew perfectly we'll what Sir
Henry died of. lie had seen him at the
first. but did not believe in his danger.
l know nothing of such matters.
thought IT was all right"
DOUBTLESS, Sir Charles, but DR.. Stone
should have known better. However,
he has rendered our task easier Busby
and l, we are going to apply for an ex-
humation of the body"
What" exclaimed the baronet, in
a tone OF horror: you surely do not
suspect
I'VE suspect nothing. Sir Charles. but
1t would be a satisfaction to us to view
the body. It's all in the matter of busi-
ness, sir, and we hope you won't OBJ
ject."
''On the contrary, if there is likely to
be any good In 1t shall help you all In
my power. What do you intend to do?"
Then 1 put myself forward.
with your leave, Sir Charles, shall
stay here" l said. whilst Crewe goes
back to London to make the applica-
tion. l don't feel that my work is fin
ished. l must take more soundinSs be-
fore l shall be satisfied that the jewels
are not still in Manningford."
Il feel CONVINCED they are.' chimed
in Ben.
OF course we had not confined our
precautions to the place itself. For
miles around search had been made at
pawnbrokers and all places where
stolen goods We're likely to be disposed
Of--and information OF the loss. with Il
description of the article, had been
sent to every seaport town and princi-
pal railway station in the Kingdom.
But no news of any sort had arrived of
1t, OF anything like it. l confess l was
beginning to be fairly puzzled, and
Bens behavior puzzled me still more.
What in the name of all that's holy
side The Gables. are your plans, Ben:
What are YOU going to next
You leave that to me. my boy. he
replied; you don't approve of my ac-
tion in the matter. so you stick to your
own. You shall stay here and look for
the Jewels under the beds and in the
maids pockets and I'll 20 up to town
and get an order for an exhumation of
the old gentlemanS carcass"
We parted the hest of friends. but I
really thought he had gone u bit dotty.
The old baronet may have been helped
out of the world by his missus, for l
could see that was what Ben thought.
but how would the discovery of murder
help us to find the rajah's heirloom?
So | continued to keep y sharp eye on
all the inhabitants of Manningford,
while he was busy with his application
to the home secretary. These sort OF
things generally take some time. but at
last the order came. and down came
Ben with it to Manningford. There
was a tremendous scene at the Gables
when our intentions We're made known.
The widow protested against the dis
turbance of her late husbands re-
al J.. 1ar1l = ltra
and an indecency, and she would not
allow it. But Ben only winked
his eys when she wasn't looking. and
assured her. sympathetically, that she
hadn't a voice in the matter, and that
government had a good reason for the
demand. The dwarf, Miss Craley, who
appeared to have gained some inkling
of what was about to happen, seemed
delighted at the idea. She capered
and screeched all day, constantly max
ing signs with her hands that she
wanted the earth removed from the
coffin. and then pointing to her own
mouth, and then to the dOwager, Lady
Ellesmere, as though she would inti-
mate that she had something to do with
her beloved patron being put under
ground. until really began to believe
myself that Ben was right after all, and
the widow had given the old gentleman
his Quietus. And yet he had treated
the idea of lover with Indifference
Aha! / said to myself. Ben may supple
ment the discovery with another. but
he'll find I'm right after all. and that
the jewels We're taken by her and de-
livered over to an accomplice--the one
doubtless, who helped her to hasten
her husba nd's death. But the idea of
that beautiful face and figure in the
dock didn't please me. and l wished
Ben hadn't been quite so sharp, but
cOntented myself with looking after the
lost property.
The eXhumation was carried out
very quietly. The -cofiin was disn-
TERED by night and conveyed to the
mortuary chapel. where two medical
men beside DR.. Stone We're prepared to
examine 1T. l and Ben. of course, being
present, with Sir Charles Ellesmere.
l felt very sad as ] watched the pro-
ceedings commence. / was thinking
Of the beautiful widow up at The
Gables, and how it would fare with her.
have rather soft heart for women:
/ can't help it! 1t seems so terrible to
me that they should ever 80 wrong.
when there's so much good i'm each one
of them. AS the coffin lid was re-
moved. I stepped forward rather curl
ously to view the corpse. 1t was that
of an attenuated. shriveled-up old man.
ance Of the body was almost unchanged
by the short time it had been under
ground. but ae the doctors moved ii
about for the rirpOse of performing
the post --.iortem. the stencil became
unbearable. and saw Sir Charles turn
deadly pale and make a bolt for the
outer air. I was about to follow him
when l was startled by an exclamation
from one of the medical men.
'Why' wha. is thisp' he said nc he
took something from under the corpse
and held it up 1t was a glittering mass
of jewels. Ben Crewe and l pounced
upon it at the same moment.
'"rhe rajah's heirloom" we cried.
simultaneously
But however did l. come here?" de-
manded DR.. Stone. curiously.
~ know ! exclaimed. and IT can
guess" said Ben-"the dwarf
1t proved to be true. Miss Craley.
having overheard the baronct threaten
his son with the loss of the heirloom.
and the Dowager Lady Ellesmerc tell
Rachel Marks that the Jewels We're
hers. conceived the cunning idea to Sc
cure them for Sir Charles by putting
them in the coffin with the corpse.
whence they might never have been
disinterred. had not both Ben and !
gone on a wrong tack to find out the
truth.
A brief examination proved that Sir
Henry had died from natural causes,
and fhe body was reburied with due
soleinnity. Bu. we cared little for the
failure il that direction. We had un-
earthed the missing heirloom, and we
kept the rest of the secret to ourselves.
All our SuS DiciUns melted into thin air.
Lady Ellesinere had not murdered her
husband she had never had u lover or
an accom- Dlice--she had not purloined
the jewels---wc were almost ready to
believe that she bad been q devoted