The Opelousas courier., 1901-01-19
A Titled Rogue.

papers. 1t is difficult to say why;
perhaps it is because they are too
queer. For instance, 1 doubt if you
have aver heard of a strange incident
that happened only a season or two
ago, in that select section Of the fash
ionable world known as society"
A lady Of title, Lady yarmouth, re-
guested me to call on her n morn
Ing about the beginning of June, the
London season being then at its
height.
81 want your help, Mr.. Love-" she
began, and then stopped awkwardly.
Perhaps you are not aware that at
several balls and dinner parties this
season there have been jewels and or
naments stolen. 1t has, of course,
caused a great deal of unpleasantness
without their knowing how it was
done or who did It,"
/ had heard several wild tales of
articles having been missed at fash
lonable gatherings, and there was
much speculation as TO who was the
culprit. The articles were not, as a
rule, of immense value, and they al
ways disappeared singly, consequent
ty no public notice had been directed
to the matter. In one or two cases
the police had been consulted, but
1t was impossible for them to help.
There could be no doubt that the thief
was a person who mixed In society as
an equal, probably a woman who had
allowed her love of jeWelry to tempt
her to dishonesty.
81 presume, then that the-er-thief
Is a guest-a person in society?' / said,
~lnquiringly.
81 am afraid sc. Two or three
things were missed at O dance which
/ gave last week. Now, / am, of
course, most anxious it should not oc-
cur again, at any rate in my house.
I thought / would engage your ser
vices for the evening, to see IL You de-
tect anything suspicious. OF course,
you would be treated as d guest"
We made arrangements about terms,
and 1t was agreed that / should be in
troduced as an American, by name
Captain Burke.
II suppose, Lady Barmouth," / said,
carelessly, you don't suspect anybody
In PARTICULAR"
"Oh, no." she said, but I noticed
what I thought was a look Of anxiety
on her face, and made a mental note
of it.
As / was leaving, Lady yarmouth
said: "0f course, MI. Lowe, you quite
understand, there must be no expose.
II you make any discoveries. they
must be treated as secrets. I can't
have a Gene of any kind. 1t must be
hushed up"
/ returned to the Office impressed
with two ideas. First, that my task
was M of those delicate cases that
require ali your tact and yield very
little credit; secondly, that Lady Bar
mouth knew more, or, at any rate,
guessed more, than she cared to tell.
Thursday evening arrived, and /
went to Merton house. Practically,
my duty vas to mingle with the
guests, enjoy myself and keep my eyes
wide open. Nothing seemed to be more
improbable than that there should be
q thief among the brilliant throng
that crowded the rooms. Everything
was conducted In the most sumptuous
and luxurious style; a Hungarian
band discoursed the sweetest of dance
music, and the guests were among
he highest in the land.
For q long while nothing occurred
Of the smallest significance. But at
about 2 o'clock in the morning, when
| was sitting In q snug corner of the
conservatory, where cigarette smoking
was permitted. I noticed a couple take
up q position in the opposite corner.
They were both young. and evidently
very much In love with one another.
The girl was handsomely dressed and
wore some valuable jewels. In par
tieular ! noticed a pair of diamond ear
drops which had just come into fash
Ion again. Without being a connois-
seur Of precious stones, I understand
them well enough, to know that these
were very valuable indeed, and likely
to be worth several hundred pounds.
These two young people were sitting
out during q dance, and they firted ali
through a set OF lancers without any
Impotence at their length.
At last they got up and went into
the ballroom again. On the chair
where the girl had been sitting lay
something shining. / strolled across
and examined It. It was a vinaigrette
which she had probably left there BY
accident. ! replaced 1t. thinking ii
might serve ais q trap for cur fashion
able thief IL he were In the neighbor-
hood, and withdrew to my corner
where 7 was almost invisible.
Presently an old gentleman strolIed
out to smoke a cigarette. He was 3
tall, handsome, intellecfual-ookine
nans with the air of a true. a~ristocrat
Els name I didn't know, but / had
noticed him chatting with the guests
He was evidently known to every one
and was a man OF social Importance.
Presently his eye caught the little
saWeled ylnaigrette. He looked care
lessly round the Conservatory to see Il