The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1904-01-29

>.opS+eu tue SaIe, prOduc-
ing the two packages and my check
book. Then can,e the real surprise of
this most strange affair. The pack
ages when opened proved to contain
sheets Of thin prpwn paper cut to the
size Of bank notes. The $4,000 had
vanished, 81
l will confess hat this was the black
est mystery thafFiah ever darkened my
understanding. igo one but Donald.
son (than whom no man could be more
trustworthy, bad Known the combina.
ton of the safe and he had had no
Key OF the innfs doors nor of the draw.
er. Yet ,tae ios}a upon these had not
been tampered nth, After On exam
nation Of theH fReedy declared that
"the trick:tES41t been turned in the
safe" andxSall at last agreed in the
Qeip3tQR t6At the theft had been
COM 9ays ago, during the time
when &ckages had lain upon nv
desk. had been there only a few
hours bpt unfortunately my memory
was v4,xWeak as to the circumstances.
= seen<Q recall having locked them
up - til desk while 1 went across to
3o4kk Rctory, but under Reedy's ques-
admitted that 1 might have
Ieft fne} }xe5 sin the desks lock.
This ;ppts it on to everybody" said
tne oeteeuve. I'VE don't know moth
ing about Who might have come into
this room. We've got to make a gen.
cral hunt.
Mr.. Reedy was Immediately directed
to assume Charge of the case, and for
the next tWQpr three weeks he worked
with exemplary diligence, but without
results. Ansattempt was made to keep
the story from circulating, but some
how It gotnbout, even that portion
which relattd to Donalds foreknowl-
edge of the. Robbery.
1t came t0sKelvin's ears, and, he took
pleasure In Eeferring to my boy as "the
mind reader" He had conceived
violent dislike OF Donald, and the boy
seemed to be deeply afflicted in conse-.
quence thereof, no doubt for pretty
Amy kefvin's sake. From certain
things which / observed 1 formed q
firm Judgment that the daughter of
my amiable neighbor did not agree
with her father In regard to Donald,
and considering the youth of the par
ties this parental opposition could not
be taken toe seriously. However, as
DohaId sufafed zaTas1HlovedS him. my
heart was warmly on Ibis side, and r
began to hate Kelvin cordially and
with fervor that may have been
prophetic.
CHAPTER VII.
THE MYsTERr OF THE COLLAR OF DIA-
MoNDs.
~\ HERE are those who detect a
sense of humor in the fates.
Il The old Greeks called them
the eumenides (well wishers);
which was an obvious attempt to make
them smile. l do not wish to decide
whether such view of the matter is
justified by the facts, but l will ven-
ture to assert upon my own observa-
ton that If the fates care at all for a
jest they prefer n man like Old Sam
Kelvin for the subject of it, Already
he had figured once in this role, and it
was not enough.
Kelvin is a pawn in the game who
fancies himself the player. He is such
a man as is fond Of saying: IF were
poor tomorrow, I should be rich again
in a year. You cannot keep good
man down." Or this, IF you ask me
for the secret of my success in the
world" ETC., when you haven't asked
him and have no interest in the process
by which an unsuccessful man became
a successful hog. am convinced that
the fates do relish an occasional prank
with such man, and the affair of the
collar Of diamonds which l am about
to lay before the reader is case I'm
point.
1t was in the middle Of July, nearly
a month after the advent of the Kel-
wins in Tunbridge. Upon an especially
beautiful morning / was taking my
usual walk before breakfast and had
gone up to the cemetery on the hill.
There. from the grave of my wife, that
Is covered with flowers at this season,
arise both my sorrow and the strength
to bear 1t. am not somber man. l
always come away from that spot with
the drumbeat of courage and of striv-
ing In my heart, after the excellent
military custom.
My way home led me past the Slough.
ton place, now called "Kelvin Elms."
Those fine old elms were quite well
grown, I Judge, when Kelvin's grand.
father was building sawmill in Penn
sylvania. lie was q carpenter and
built the mill for another man and then
got 1t away from him by some sort Of
hocus pocus. looked the matter up
out Of curiosity. Sam Kelvin's father
inherited the sawmin, but not the ca.
pacity for hocus pocus. The latter
skipped generation. so the sawmilI
passed out of the family with other i'll
gotten goods, and the present spropri-
etor of The Elms was born poor.
His first success was a rather shady
transaction in. coal lands, and after:
ward he associated himself with pow.