Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-04-11

They were ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF
price! l knew it in a moment. As
moved the taper to and fro above them,
and watched the fire, glow and tremble
In their depths, knew that I held that
which would buy the crazy inn and
all it's contents q dozen times over.
They were diamonds! Gems so dne,
and of so rare a weter-or had never
seen gems-that my hand trembled rs
I held them. and my head grew hot,
and my heart beat furiously. For 4
moment thought I dreamed, that my
fancy played me sotae trick; and I
closed my eyes and did not open them
again for a minute. But when I d:9,
there they were. hard, real, and an
guar. Convinced at last, in a maze Of
joy and fear, closed my hand upon
them, and, stealing on tip-toe to the
trapdoor, laid first my saddle on it,
and then my bags, and over all my
cloak, breathing fast the while.
Then stole back; and, taking up tho
light again, began to search the floor.
patiently, inch by inch, with naked
feet, every sound making me tremble
as crept hither and thither over tho
creaking boards. And never was
search more successful or better paid.
In the fragments of the sachet found
six smaller diamonds and pair Of
rubies. Eight large diamonds found
ON the floor. One, the largest and last
found, had bounded away and lay
against the wall in the farthest corner.
It took me an hour to run that one to
earth; but afterwards spent another
hour on my hands and knees before
gave up the search, and, satisfied at
last that I had collected all, sat down
on my saddle on the trap-door, and, by.
the last Pickering light Of a camille
which had taken from my bag,
gloated over my Treasures treasure
worthy OF tabled Golconda.
Hardly could I believe in it's reality,
even now. Recalling the jewels which
the English Duke Of Buckingham
wore on the occasion Of his visit to
Paris. in 1925, and Of which there was
so much talk, I took these to be as fine.
though less in number. They should be
worth $4,000 crowns! And held them
in the hollow Of my hand--I who was
scarcely worth 10000 sous.
The candle going out cut short nv
admiration. Left in. the dark with
these precious atoms, my first thought
was how might dispose Of them safe
ly; which I did, for the time, by secret
ing them in the lining of my boot. Ny
second thought turned on the question
how they had come where had found
them, among the powdered spice and
perfumes in Mademoiselle de Coche-
foret's sachet.
A minutes reflection enabled me to
come very near the secret, and at
the same time shed a flood Of light on
several dark places. What Clon had
been seeking on the path between the
house and the village, what the good
wife of the inn had sought among tho
sweeptngs Of yard and floor, Il knew
now-the sachet. I knew, too, what
had caused the marked and sud
den anxiety I had noticed at the
chateau-the loss Of this sachet.x 2, =. :. :
And there for q while came to q
check. But one step more up the lad
der Of thought brought all in view. IN
"a fash / guessed how the Jewels had
come to be in the sachet; and that It
was not mademoiselle but NJ. de Coch.
eforet who had mislaid them. And y
thought the discovery so important
that began to- pace the roona softly,