The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1903-04-02

chance and got a tremendous haul OF
fine pearls and travelled back to pre-.
sent them to the Judges sister. Meth.
er Of them had the least idea of the
value of the string till Miss Pelham
wore them at a ball given by the Gov
ernor, and then some expert saw them
and fairly electrified the Judge by say
ing the centre pearl alone-it was con-
sidernbly larger than the rest-was
worth thousands.
'As soon as Pelham got home he and
his sister had In his clerk-a discharged
prisoner, a gentleman who had been
sent out for being in some Irish rising
Of sorts-and showed him the string,
asking him at the same time to try
and find where the donor had gone to,
so that he might be informed of the
value Of his discovery. Then he went
OF to bed, leaving the pearls In a dis
patch box on the table, and forgetting
TO lock II, In his usual absent way.
In the night a tremendous storm came
down. and swept through the house in
a hurricane, carrying everything into
the verandas. The clerk Connolly
came rushing in, shut the windows and
doors, and picked up the scattered
books and papers, assisted by the but
Ter. another tlme-expired man. The
dispatch box was found lying on the
door its contents blown away and the
pearls gone Pelham insisted that
they must be somewhere near and
made the men spend the rest Of the
night searching with him through the
room, but with 10 result. Both men
were naturally rather frightened: there
had been a number Of small robberles,
and the Governor a rigid old martinez,
was determined to put crime down
with heavy hand.
she was very fond OF the cat The
cat be used to declare, is worth a
regiment In keeping order In n half
criminal community like this Pelham
was opposed to It with all his might,
and the two were constantly at log
gerheads. The Governor got wind OF
the disappearance Of the necklace. and
instantly sent a guard and shut up
both Pelham's men in Boggo, saying
he would give them five dozen apiece
unless they owned up to the pearls.
Connolly was a delicate little chap
and he almost died at the thought of it.
The other chap confessed on the spot;
SAID he had been standing at the door
and seen Connolly take out the string
and put It in his pocket, a statement
which the Judge declared was a lie,
and one encouraged by the Governors
use Of such a brutal form OF punish
ment He didn't blame the butler. but
he stuck to it. Connolly couldn't have
taken the pearls or he would have seen
him. Meantime, there was a row royal
between the law and tie adminIstra-
ton, and the pearls Kept out Of sight
Miss Pelham went 10 the Governor
and begged him to give Connolly a
weeks respite before he was. brought
up for sentence. And in that time
she fairly turned the yellow stone
house inside out. and still no sign OF
the necklace. She was sitting ON the
veranda one night with tie Judge, talk
ing and wondering.
- cannot imagine said she, where
they can have got. to-
ia give 4 hundred pounds to
know replied Pelham. gloomily; poor
little Connolly won't last three months
If he goes back to the quarr!cs.'
"'Tve looked everywhere said Mig3
Pelham, and she looked Up at the gulGc.
lie was sitting demurely on his stand,
and wInking his red-rimned eyes as
If he knew all about 1t.
"'Ho. no. no" he chuck.ed; LOOT ".
der the table,
"She sat looking up at him In amaze.
ment, while he kept repeating, Look
under the table,
"Shc got up. 4 win she said; 'ev.
cry table In the house
''Now, she had removed everything
out Of the dining room where the dis
patch box had been left, and the car
pets had been taken up. The floor had
been laid with very green wood. and
when the covering was removed the
boards Were found to have shrunR.
1t was sunset, and the light came in
level with the house, which, like most
houses, was raised 4 little on piles to
keep out the white ants. She walked
across, looking down, and suddenly she
cried out and the Judge rushed to her
side. Look! she gasDed, pointing
downward. He put on his spectacles
and looked. and there between the
cracks they could see the string Of
pearls lying on the black soil beneath
the floor.
Connolly was returned to the Judge,