The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1901-10-04
| Colonel BostaL At least. he and Miss

George Claris rubbed one Of the ca
rings on his sleeve. and then rath,
quickly thrust them both out Of sigl
under q little pile of old papers an
I magazines which had been replace
upon the side-table.
well. I don't know what folks wa,
spending money on jew'lry for, whe
you can get just as good to look at IL
next to nothing. And next to nothin
must be the vally Of anything a. Nil
Theodore gives away" he added. wit
rather forced attempt at jocularit,
CLIFFORD, who was much perturbe
by this incident, on account Of the CO,
struction his two friends were sure I
put upon 1t. made haste to turn tn
tax into another channel. He kney
that he had not heard the last of 1,
And he was not surprised to see Otts
at later period of the evening, whe-
the rest were in the garden, draw tn
earrings from the place where the,
had been put. and examine them care
fully by the light Of the lamp.
While Clifford fingered behind for .
few last words with Nell, the othe,
two. having taken their leave, walked
on together.
Willie spoke first. Putting at ths
pipe he had just Lit, he glanced I'D al
Otto.
We'll. and what is your opinion of
our fair friend nowT" he asked.
MY opinion is that she Is a thief.
and very daring. If not q very skill.
ful one. Those earrings were pearls
and rubies, real ones. very old-fash-
Toned. but w>rth something"
And you don't think they may have
been given - herr"
MY dear fellow. look at the story.
Is there anything to blush about in
the fact Of receiving q present from
an old man and his old daughter7 Yet.
undoubtedly. she did blush. Then
look at the improbability Of the thing.
Inc Bostals are as poor as church
mice. Would they have such a thing
as these earrings? Well. perhaps
they might have. But would thew
give them away? The old man might
infatuated with her pretty face. but
not the starchy. elderly-young lady"
You had better not tell Clifford
what you think"
don't mean to. But mean to try
to save him from this ENHANCEMENT.
and In order to carry out my plan. he
must not suspect that have one. he
won't say much about her, you bet:
ne VIII be afraid of our raillery. And
we snail say no more than he does.
And, OF course. IL he asks me INV
opinion about the earrings. shall say !
[ney were worthless. SeeT
Willie nodded. He no longer bore
chnord malice for cutting him out: he
vas only too thankful that he had been
himself saved from a deep tumble into
he same pitfall.
IL was about a fortnight after the
eturn to town Of the three friends
nat tnere drove up to the Blue Lion,
me bitter evening. a hired dog-cart
rom Stroan, In which sat a gentleman
Vno told the landlord that he was on
ne way to Courtstairs, but that be
ound the weather too severe and
mould be glad to put up at the inn /
nth the following morning. He was
pleasant, talkative young fellow, and
gorge Claris. who had been growing {
atner moody and reserved of late.
1awed under the influence of the I
rangers genial manner, and passed 7
ie evening smoking and talking by s
he nre In the little bar-parlor. Only {
ace In the course Of the evening did Z
catch sight Of Nell. n
she was passing through the passage a
ner way upstairs, and she appeared 8
the door Of the room for an instant d
ny, to give a message to her uncle a
she stood there. the young man "
OK occasion to mention that he must L
10 push on tomorrow. as he was
frying property Of some value for a q
m In whose employment he was \
hich was expected by another firm to a
nom he WINS commissioned. Y,
And he noticed that. as he said INF. M
e girls bright color left her cheeks. a,
why don't you push ON tonight. A
enF she said. brusquely. advancing d,
step INTO the room and fixing her
es earnestly upon him. THE weatb. n,
may be worse tomorrow. and n N
are afraid Of a little wind. Won 90
'uid have gone by rail. ard not by N
me young man rose politely. and oc
ked at her curiously rs she spoke. tn
before he had had time to utter a in
70 In answer. her uncle dismissed &c
rom the room with a by no means m
ltie reminder that It was no bust
o Of hers. so
ne visitor. In spite of the import. tn
e OF bis commission, seemed to he 10,
no great hurry to push on with his Nc
rney; for on the following day. az wi
wind was still cold, and the sky trt
gloomy. he remained at the Blue tol
"' Nil
gorge Claris had a shrewd sus- "a
on that 1t was the blue eyes of his an
Ffv nfora II