Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-02-24

mapt Mr. Klsch walked into the
and locked the door behind am, U
ring the key in his pocket.
He grinned at her look or surprise,
and coolIy seated himself. Ursula TOOK
n step forward and rang b Dell u
second true.
MAY | ask what you are doing
tere?' she said 10 him.
II ran up to have a little chat Win
vou." he answered. cooliy. 1 nope
YOU found the tea good, n every
Thing to you liking?
".Who are your What Is It to you
BOW | am treated
II shouldn't like you to be uncom-
Portable while you stay here-tnats
all" said the Jew, stealthily rupoins
his hands one over the other.
..Rut | don't understand. Wnat nave
YOU TO do with itT' /.
II am NJ. Herbert"
YOU
IL took the name of Herbert so as TO
make sure OF getting you to come mere
where we can talk quietly without any
interruption"
But this is an outrage! | Will no
submit TO it, And again Ursula pulled
the bell violently.
you leedn't trouble 10 ring. The
bell will only be answered when 1
please. and | don't please now.
What do you meani Tell me at
once what is the meaning OF this con
I duct?"
II want TO tell you but you won't
give me a chance of speaking a word
Yes, sit down; that's better. Now we
can talk nj our ease. You see, the way
OF il is this: l gave your father "A
great deal of money, rs much as
f3.OOO in all, for him 10 buy diamonds
with ia the rough. and we were 10
share the profits when they were cut
and sold. You see? Well. he did buy
them. and bought them cheap, too, |
don't deny 1t. Then be brought them
| home. and | went down to his place III
the country, two days before his death,
TO have a look at 'em. He wanted To
keep them all together. and. though |
wished TO divide them rs they Were. |
gave in TO him. But | objected 10 his
keeping them in a drawer in his writ
ing table. Surely, that was reason
able.
well he said he would send then
to the bank for safety, seeing that he
was going to leave home for a time.
Now he is dead. and | want my share
OF the diamonds. | know you have
them, or can tell me where they are 10
be found. And. Miss Joyce, / will deal
fairly by you. Ii you will give me the
stones. / will sell them to the best adj
vantage, and you shall have your faith
er's share. which was To be one-third.
L can't say fairer than that, can L? II
was to you he intrusted them when he
left home, and there is no use Of your
saying you don't know where the dia-
monds are, for nobody will believe
you. | can sue you at law. but it
would only be throwing good money
after bad. And what was | to doI
Was | TO sit down and do nothing?
Not likely! What I've decided is this
that you will stop here, if it were
twenty years. until you hand over the
diamonds-or. what is the same thing.
give me a letter to whoever you have
given them. ordering him 10 give them
up TO me. Now. what do you sayT"
In his excitement, the Jew had wrig-
gled forward in his chair till ii seemed
as If he must slip down to the ground.
His face worked strangely; he almost
came "a believe in the truth of the
Tonstrous lies he had been telling Ur-
sula. She. too, was terribly excited.
bur she tried to keep as cool as posi-
BILE. When Kisch stopped speaking,
she only took a long breath and tried
TO speak calmly.
Whether all this story you have
been telling me is true or not, | don't
know. 1t doesn't sound very likely"
| HAra tina Taxv iptarrnnfad har NTH 4.
horrible imprecation, but she took no
notice, and he did not speak again till
she had finished.
But whether IL is true or not does
not make the least difference. l tell
you. once for all, 1 know nothing about
the diamonds. l never got them.
Someone must have stolen them out Of
the drawer before I came home thar
afternoon. As o as l came in I
found NY fathers note, and went and
got the keys Immediately. The dia-
mondS were not there"
What time was that?"
"A little after four
kisch heayed a sigh Of relief. He
had had from the first a haunting fear
that Clovis had stolen the diamonds
himself. and that his accusation OF Ur-
sula was a pure pretense in order TO
hide his W guilt. But he saw now
that 1T was impossible that he should
have the stones, for Clovis had never
once been u of his sight from the
time when they left the Old Rectory
in company with Mr.. Joyce himself
until nearly ) O'Clock.
To be sure. somebody else might
have heard of the diamonds, and made
his way into the house in broad day.
light, and gone by accident to the right
drawer. Pooh. 1t was ridiculous to
think that that could happened. Even
If Joyce had been fool enough to speak
OF the stones, he would not tell any
one where he kept the key, and the
drawer had not been forced. No. Ur-
sula must have hidden the diamonds
away somewhere; there could be 70
doubt about IT,; and 10Y il must be a
trial Of strength between her obstinacy
and his.
Il have thought 1t all out carefully
he said. speaking with his wicked eyes
fixed on hers, land l find it is certain
that you have the diamonds. So it's of
no use to deny it. And all I've got to
say Is. here you stop until you sign an
order for them to be given up. or tell