The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1901-10-25

eootoatD were n eomo 1looCooR. ~
h waited about until Mee. IT, seFv
ant. came to It to fetch her brooms.
The woman started with Z gruR ex
clamation at his appearance.
There's nothing for you to be fright
ened about" said he. quietly. IL ONLY
want you to tell me whether that d
exactly the state in which you lef
the cupboard when you went to &
last"
II bad needed only q very fs.. mo
ments Tor him to decide that this wa,
not the woman Of whom he was II
search. Stout, broad. clumsy Of move
ment and heavy Of tread. the robus,
figure before him had certainly none
Of the nimbleness Of the thief Of whom
be was In search. He had had expe
rience enough to know how to assum.
an entirely reassuring manner viii
persons Of her stamp. and 1t took hel
only few minutes to recover her self
| possession and to answer him intelli
gently.
why. no 1t amt" she said, with TO
bust surprise and vehemence. "The
things 'as been knocked down an
trampled on. an all my cloths mixed
up. Why do you think. sir" she weni
on with round eyes. that the thiei
ITSELF has been in here?"
And she looked back at her brooms
her pals and her cloths with a mix
ture Of amazement. fear and respect.
"Well. somebody's been In there,
that's evident. isn't ity' said he. good.
humoredly.
And he decided in his own mind that
the clever thief had opened and shut
the back door loudly as a blind, and
had secreted herself In this cupboard
until he was safely out Of the house.
Il suppose you don't happen to have
seen him about this -morningY he
went on. In Jocular tone.
Seen the thief! Lor, no. sir. II he's
been In the house be must have got
out again pretty quick. for got down
pretty near rs soon as the master
himself: an there was nobody about
then. for sure. but i'm and me and
Miss Nell,
The poor young lady was fright.
ened. I'm afraid, by the commotiony"
"Oh. well. we're used to these set.
outs by this Time" replied Meg. philo-
sophically. Miss Nell did look very
white an faint-like. an she was all Of
a tremble. poor thing. when she heard
about the fuss. So master packed her
on to the coloners, and told her as she
was to stop there till he sent for her."
The coloners. And who 10 the cole
nelY
"Oh. an old gentleman az lives a Lit.
tie way from here along the Court
stairs road. Miss Nell takes them their
milk there fresh from the COW every
morning and evening"
"0h." remarked the detective, high
~ satisfied at having tapped the fount
Of Meg's loquacity. Il should have
thought she was too much OF q fine
lady for that. your Miss Nell"
"Ah. but she wouldn't do IL for any.
body else" replied Meg. anxious to de-
teno ner mistress. You see. the col
one' an ms daughter are real gentle
.o'ss. only they're poor-very poor.
An 'ney uont keep no servant an
MIS- aneooora ooes all the work her
sen. so. you see. as shes been kind
20 mss NeiL an got the master to give
Miss Nell her fine dedication and
rrenen an the pianner. why. Mise
Ne" oont seem 70 Know how to do
Enough Ior ner' inats how 1t is. sir.
~ oe gao 10 take the mix myself.
OF We couid easy get the boy to do 1t.
onay Aiss Men iikes to DO II herself
uAe'
The detective was about to inferno
gate Meg further. when the voice Of
the innkeeper. shouting to her to know
why breakfast was not ready. pre-
vented his hearing any more. And,
much to his regret. he found on his
next meeting with her that the poison
OF suspicion had been instilled into
her mind by her master. and that she |
was communicative no longer.
Finding this source Of information
DRY. therefore. fhe defa~fivo -h>