The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-27

Could they be real after all? Why not
| make inquiries?
Between two music lessons. urged by her
I sister, Mabel had screwed up her courage
| ana taken the necklace to a jewelers.. one
of the assistants came forward, listened
/ to her timid eXplana ton. opened the par
! Gel carelessly, and turned over the orna-
ments with faint smile.
| Might l ask what you think these
stones are, Miss?" he inquired, with look
of amusement.
/ Il was told that they were emeralds. .
| she answered, with a blush
! 'Emeralds!' in a shocked voice. "Oh,
! no; they appear to be French-probably
! French paste. They might suit a fancy
! dress or a stage costume;'' here he rolled
up the necklace, and, as he handed it back
| 10 her with a negligent bow, he added:
| They are not bad limitations"
| After this sore rebuff, the despised green
| ornaments were put away But in about
| a fortnight the spur of want, and of a
| naturally persistent nature, carried Mabel
and the green paste necklace to a small
secondhand shop, not very far from the
| Liftey 1t was here she had disposed Of
! her mothers watch. If it had not been
! dark, she would have seen it hanging in
| the window, and ticketed at a price that
! would have surprised her.
the young man to whom she sold 1t re-
ceived her present parcel facetiously
ITS a clock this timei" he exclaimed
| facetiously, Il can tell by the weight"
And then he proceeded to unfold the wrap
pings, and beheld-no not a clock but a
necklace. He was a stolid person, with
Flemish blood in his veins and well ac-
! customed to being offered all manner of
queer articles, from a Spode soap dish to
a diamond tiara.
'Hullo, hullo, I can at last believe I'm
| in the Emerald Isle when l see this. eh?'
and he sniggered, as he held up the neck
lace But when he had carefully screw
ed microscope into his eye, his grin
faded, his face grew serious, not to say
solemn He inspected the ornament mar
rowly, and at his leisure, then he deiber-
ately pronounced his opinion of the gaud
'Glassl and good glass at that; but the
setting is the real tcket-old French pat
tern, old and remarkable-but gilt of
course. As a curio Mr. Dock might be in
clined to trade. I'll just ask him." and
he called his master to the far end of the
shop, where they mum bled together in
consultation and argument for what SEEM
ed to Mabel an hour, but which was really
not more than ten minutes. 1t happened to
be dark, wet night, and she began to feel
nervous. 1t was long after seven Why
not come in the morning? 1t was a slummy
| horrid sort of part of the city. At last the
proprietor came forward, and said as he
rubbed a pair of exceedingly dirty fat
hands.
I don't mind giving you i've pounds for
1t, Miss"
Five pounds for gilt and glass! And she
wanted the money so badly. Mabel hesi-
tated for a second, the word of assent was
almost uttered, when in a mirror she in
| tercepted a quick delighted wink, which
| the shopman was bestowing upon his pa
iron, who was already in the act of I'M
locking his cash box.
Instantly her Yes" was changed into
| "No, thank you"
No! not five poundsr' cried the old man
| turning over the ornament with a con-
temptuous finger.
| She edged nearer to the counter ian I'M
| expected proceeding).
Come now, my dear, I like to do a
| little deal with a pretty young lady, and 1
take fancies to customers as well as arti-
| Giles sometimes-articles which are of no
| intrinsic value, as I'm a collector of Gu
| rios you see, as well as matchmaker and
! jeweler. Now, look here, I'm rcbbing my
family, but III give ten pounds for that
necklace-ten gold sovereigns." His eyes
were greedily fixed on the ornament it
was very evident that the more he looked
at it, the better he liked it.
mo thank YOU" she answered steadily.
What does the lady want?" he demand
ed ENORMOUSLY of his assistant, raising his
voice as he spoke.
| Surely she does not suppose that they
are real Ha! ha!'
If the setting was gold. why should the
| stones not be real? Why were the men so
anxious, so fun of smouldering excite
ment? asked Mabel Of herself.
Twenty pounds!' with violet thump
of his fist. Youth never get such an Of
fer again. Colt IN Himmel Neverr'
1t seemed to the girl, who was now
| trembling from head to foot, that the
shopman was quietly working round be-
tween her and the door; the master looked
red nay purple; his great under lip slob-
bered and quivered, and beads of perspi-
ration stood out on his forehead, as he
Numbered out,
Fifty pounds! Seventy pounds! -
mo" she almost screamed, suddenly
snatching UP the necklace off the counter;
in a second she was out in the dark wet
street and running. Once, impelled
against her viii, she looked back, and saw
! against the bright light two eager figures
| in the doorway. One was preparing to
| follow her. She darted around a corner
at full speed, fed sup a narrow black lane,
where she ran against q drunken virago,
who used awful language. She turned at
| last into a wel-it street, and, oh joy! joy!
| she heard the familiar tram bells, and
climbed into the tram. II mattered not a
lot what tram It was, she was safe. Peo-
| pie stared a good deal at a pale, wet,
| breathless girl, who sat gaspng among
them. with a large green glass necklace
(or rosary dangling loosely an her tremD-
| ling hand.
CHAPTER ".
That night the sisters held a long and
solemn consultation, and agreed to seek
the aid and advice of the rector of the
parish, the Rev. Patrick Capel. He and
his wife had always been kindly inter-
ested in the two orphan girls but the
pride of these young ladies even exceeded
their poverty, and though always courte-
ousaand agreeable. they seemed to shrink
from any civlites-they apparently
turned them over in their own minds dubi-
ously. and suspected the kernel. Charity
No, they never once took tea at the rec.
tory though they gladly helped at work
ing parties and actually subscribed to the
Parish Magazine" and never passed the
plate on Sundays. Mrs. Capel, who had
manifold parish duties. called on several
occasions. but never once found the Miss
Dorans at home. and she set them down
in her own mind as a pair of pretty
poor. but totally inaccessible girls" Little
did she ever suspect their poverty OF
how long a loaf and candle were coaxed &c
hold out, or that they purchased coal by
the stone!
MT Cape was. under these circum.
|