The Holly chieftain., 1902-01-24

leads-as did III the row oe houses.
1hs odlcer seemed ia. take in ths
points of the double room at : 9iancs:
the door Of Communication. 1ts tive
doors opening to the corridor oufsidA
and Its windows. He locked n& ths
latchea OF the two entrance doors, ard
he leaned from the front windows, and
he leaned from the one ct the back.
He ne1t requested to zee Niss eeaton,
and Lady Sarah fetched her-a deli
cate girl with transparent skin and
looking almost too weak to walk. she
was In visible tremor. and shook a.
she stood before the stranger.
He was = man OF pleasant manners
and speech. and he hastened to asure
her: There's nothinE to be afraid q.
young lady" said he, with : broad
smile. I'm not an ogre; though ! %
believe some timid folks look .upoa us
~ such. Just please to compose your
self ana tell me ag much 40 you can
recollect Of thisn i
Il put the bracelets out here. began
Alice Seaton. laying hold Of the table
underneath the window, not more to
indicate It than to steady herself, for
she was almost incapable OF standing
The diamond bracelet. the one lost,
I placed here she added, touching
the middle Of the table at the back,
"and the rest laid out round, and
and before It,"
1T was worth more than any of the
others. believe" Interrupted the en-
cial. =
Much more" growled the Colonel.
The oficer nodded to himself, and
Alice resumed
Il left the bracelets and went and
sat down at one OF the front win
dows-"
With the intervening doors open. l
|
Wide open. as they are now," said
Alice. land the other two doors shut.
Lady Sarah came up from dinner al
most directly. and then the bracelet
was not there
Indeed! You are quite certain OF
that"
am quite certain" interpreted
Lady Sarah. Il looked for that brace
let. and. not seeing it, supposed Miss
Seaton had not laid It out. put on
the pair l wished to wear and placed
the others In the box and saw Miss
SeAton lock It,
Then you did not miss the bracelet
at that timer" questioned the oAicer.
II did not miss 1t in one sense, be-
cause I did not know 1t had been put
out" returned her ladyship. Il saw
it was not there"
but did you not miss it?'' he asked.
Z only reached the table as Lady
Sarah was closing the lid OF the box"
she answered. Lady Frances Chene-
viz had detained me in the front
ROOM"
my sister" explained Lady Sarah.
f6he Is on visit to me, and had come
with me up from dinner"
You say you went and sat in the
front ROOM" resumed the oficer to
Alice, in a quicker tone than he had
used previously. win you show
where! y x, ai
Alice did not stir; she only turned
her head towards the front room, and
pointed to chair little drawn away
from the window.
I'm that chair" she said. ut stood
- It stands now"
The oflcer looked banned.
You must have had the back room
full In view from thence: both the
door and the window"
Quite so," replied Alice. III you
will sit down In 1t. you will perceive
that | had an uninterrupted view, and
laced the doors Of both rooms"
7 perceive so from here. And you
saw no one enter?"
mo one did enter. It was impossi-
Bile they could do 70 without my OBJ
serving 1t. Had either Of the doors
been only quietly unlatched. / must
have seem
"And yet the bracelet vanished!'
Colonel Hope. "They must
have been confounded deep whoever
lid It; but thieves are said to possess
light Of shand.s
They are clever enough for It, some.
II them," observed the ofacer.
"Rascally viilsins. / should like to
Know how they accomplished this"
80 should i" significantly returned
he oficsr.. AT present 1t appears to
ne incomprehensible."
There was pause. The onicers
rA0mAd tn Ynlina. and A1Aaa hsnx>.