Evening star., 1896-02-22

was what Ben thought. but how would the
discovery Of murder help US to find the
rajah's heirloom? So 1 continued to keep
sharp eye on all the Inhabitants of Man
ningford, whilst he was busy with his ap-
phcatiOn TO the home secretary. This
sort Of things generally take some time,
but at last the order came. and down came
Ben with 1t to Marningford. There was
tremendous scene at The Gables when our
intentions were made known. The widow
protested against the disturbance of her
late husbands remains. She declared II
was an outrage and an indecency, and she
would not allow II. But Ben only winked
his eye when she wasn't looking, and as
sured her. sympa athetically, that she hadn't
voice In the matter. and that government
had good reason for the demand The
dwarf. Miss Craley. who appeared to have
gained some inklng Of what was about to
happen, seemed delighted at the idea She
cape.ed and screeched all day. constantly
making 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 intimate that she had
something to do with her beloved patron
being put underground, until / really began
to believe myself that Ben right after
all. and the widow had given the old gen.
ueman his qusetus. And yet he had treated
the idea Of a lover with indifference. Ahai
/ said to myself. Ben may supplement the
discovery with ar other. but he', find I'm
right after all. and that the jewels were
complice-the one. doubtless. who helped
her to hasten her husbands death. But
the idea of that beautiful face and figure
In the dock didn't please me. and / wished
Ben hadn't been quite so sharp, but con-
tented him self with looking after the lost
property.
The exhumation was carried out very
quietly. The coffin was disinterred by
night, and conveyed to the m ortuary chapel,
where two medical men besides DR. Stone
were prepared to examine it. ] and Ben, of
course, being present with Sir Charles
Ellesmere- ! felt very sad as / watched
the proceedings commence. / was think
ing of the beautiful widow up a The Gables
and how il would fare with her il Benz s
suspicious proved correct. l have rather q
soft heart for women; ] can't help il, II
seems so terrible to me that they should
ever go wrong. when there's much good
in each one Of them! AS the coffin lid was
removed, l stepped forward, rather Gu
riously, to view the corpse. 1t was that Of
an attenuated, shriyelel-up old man. with
a stern expression. The appearance of the
body was almost unchanged by the short
time it had been Under ground, but as the
doctors moved 1t about for the purpose of
performing the post-mortem, the sten ch
became unbearable, and / saw Sir Charles
turn deadly pale and make a bolt for the
outer air l was about to follow him, when
/ was startled by an exclamation from one
of the medical men.
why, what is this?" he said, as he took
something from under the corpse and held
it up. 1t was g.itteriag mass of jewels.
Ben Crewe and l pounced upon ii at the
same moment.
The rajah's heirloom," We cried simulta-
neousiy.
uianded DR.. Stone. curiously.
Il know" I exclaimed. and Il can guess
said Ben-"the dwarf"
1t proved ID be true. Miss Craley. having
upderstcod the bare net to threaten his son
with the loss of the heirloom, and the dow
ager Lady Ellesmere tell Rachel Marks