Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-11-13
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE MISSING NECKLACE.

IOr1ginaIl
4 young girl and her mother are re-
turning from a ball. The girl is but
eighteen, and she has appeared in so
ciety for the first time. She leans back
in her carriage. the gay scenes whirl-
ing delightfully."- through her brain and
i thinking especially of the first man
who has ever been attentive to her. 4
| warmth comes to her cheek on recall
ing the compliment he whispered in
her ear as they were sailing in a waltz.
Suddenly she puts her hand TO her
throat and gasps:
| "Oh, mamma,'
For heavens sake. Bessie, what is
it,"
My necklace, It's gomez
She had gone to the ball with cir
clet of pearls of great value clasped
about her neck and returned without
| them. In vain she sought TO recall
where she might have dropped them
Could any thief possibly have stolen up
| behind her and unclasped them? All
efforts to account for the loss were
failures. Detectives were put on the
ease, but not the slightest clew did
they ever find. After months of hunt
ting. without success, the jewels We're
| given up as lost.
Twenty-Five years have passed. Bes-
sic Kingman, now Il woman past mid
die age. but unmarried. is sitting in
her boudoir after breakfast scanning
| the morning paper. There is Il whistle
| without, a ring at the doOrbell and the
| postman leaves the mail. y maid
| hands her mistress d small package
| which, the wrapper being removed,
| proves To be Il pastcboard box. Lift
| ing the lid from the box. Miss King
| man meets the establishment of her
| life. There. Nesting in Il bed of pink
cotton. is the necklace lost quarter
of a century before.
Curiosity. one of the strongest of our
instincts, prompts her first act TAX
ing up the wrapper. she studies the
handwriting of the address She can
see no resemblance TO any penmanShip
she has ever seen before. one thing,
and one thing only. arrests her atten-
ton. Frank Burrill. the young man
who had been devoted TO her the night
of the ball at which she had lost her
necklace. had written her several notes,
which she had kept carefully locked in
her writing desk. He had a peculiar
way of making the letter +. This let
ter in the address resembled those i'll
her notes, but there was not enough
in this 10 serve as a clew.
Another five years have passed
Elizabeth Kingman is Il woman with
more gray than black in her hair and
when she reads uses glasses. She still
has the letters of Frank Burrill locked
in her desk, and perhaps once a year
takes them out and reads them over.
He has been married for nearly thirty |
years, and she has never seen him |
since his marriage.
One morning on taking up Il paper |
and CHANGING at the death notices she |
saw an announcement of the death of |
his wife. 1t was n few months after |
this that she received a visit from her |
first and only lover. He was just pass |
ing the prime of life for Il man. Miss |
Kingman saw in him traces of that |
manly beauty-his engaging smile was |
all there-which had SO moved her |
heart when 1t was young Burrill came |
often, and the two became fast friends
Once Miss I[ingman mentioned the loss |
rill StrcVe To maintain n serene counte- |
nance under her searching gaze. but |
could not. Miss Kingman assumed |
that ne had been tempted in those dan |
gerOus days of youth and had repented. |
She forgave him without telling him
Of her forgiveness.
In another year wedding bells rang |
for the pair whose hearts had been
united years before. Each possessed |
a secret that was kept well guarded
from the other. Except this they were
as one. The wife hid her knowledge. or,
rather. belief of which she had no
doubt, that her husband had fallen be-
fore temptation. had repented and
been forgiven. The husband guarded
his own secret which he of living be-
ings alone knew. Their days were Sc
rene except for an occasional cloud |
that passed momentariIy over their
sun in this one matter of withheld
confidence.
Again the scene changes. An old wo-
man of seventy, who has just buried
her husband, Is breaking up her home
The desk that has long held his papers
must be gone over and all that is no
longer of use destroyed. The old wo-
man spends morning at this work
One paper she reads before knowing of
its confidential nature. 1t is this:
My Dear Husband-I have lost your
love under this suspicion ever since YOU
discovered the necklace / am i'll and
worn out with anxiety and remorse. Aft
er may years keeping this horrid secret
l am at last resolved. now that my days
are numbered, TO make confession of a
sin committed IN my youth On the night
OF the ball. when you were so attentive to |
Miss hingman you took her TO dance |
her necklace became unclasped and fell
at my feet Mad with jealousy. 1 placed |
the. skirt of my dress over II and when |
unobserved picked il up. Ny wish to re- |
turn II TO her came too late. / dared not |