Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-11

father. Sir John wants me at once upon mat
ter Of business ] shall not be long"
"All right my boy; III make myself comfort
able. Give them all my kind regards
When Fred entered the library and found Isa-
bel and Sir John awaiting him. their aspects be-
toSened that something unusual had happened.
IsabePs eyes were red with weeping and Sir
Johns face was stern and set.
Isabel, what has happened? Sir John
"Sit down, my boy; | wish to talk with You
upon very serious matter, and I am afraid
shall cause you much pain"
"Sir John, you alarm me-"
'In A few words will tell you what has hap
pened. Yesterday your father gave Isabel val
liable necklace and tiara. These presents, with
number Of other Jewels Of great money value,
were locked in cabinet in lsabel's boudor.
say securely locked, but the cabinet itself was
not proof against assault and last night everything
IL contained was stolen
"Stolen BY whomW
''Wait. and YOU shall hear. When Isabel re-
tired to rest last evening the door OF her bou-
doir, which leads into her bedroom, was left
open In the early hours Of the morning some
noise awoke her, and through the open door she
could see the shadow Of man She crept from
her bed and switched on the light The burglar
turned. she saw his face for one instant, then he
darted on to the versnda, jumped into the garden
and disappeared"
"But who was he?"
4
Erred. my boy, the man was your father.
my father. My father. Impossible
His voice sank to whisper and terrible gray
ness spread over his face.
''It can't be true"
''I believe it 80 far TO be true. Fred, that
have prepared warrant for his arrest, ana the
men are here ready to execute it,
"No, no; not that"
"Stav moment. my boy. have very good
memory for faces and what am about to tell
YOU itistifes my action. When met your tather
yesterday I recognized him as man named An
thony CrEp, who received a sentence Of hiteen
ment Of particularly cruel kind. / taxed him
with it yesterday and he did not deny It.; t.,
i'rhen that explains his long absenceT
$50 far as I can see, it does; but have not
finished vet / have looked up the records OF
his case and find that he was sentenced IN jan
nary 1884. Did you bring your mothers mar
riage certihcateT
''Yes; il is here"
'sThe date Of your mothers wedding was the
June H. 1884
"What does it mean?'
eeIt means, my boy, that the man is an inn
postor, and not your father at all. Where Is ne
now?"
"And the case of jewels to be returned to Road
er's?"
"It is in my bedroom"
''There is not a moment to be lost, even 1t we
are not too late now The scoundrel has made
splendid haul if he gets away. will warn the
men who are waiting and come back with you.
Sir John accompanied Fred back to his cham
| bers hut their worst fears were realized. An
thony Crisp was missing and so were the jewels
His cupidity however, proved his undoing Had
he been content with the proceeds of the burg
larry he might have got clear away. but with such
a short start the police were soon hot on the
trail and few hours later he was arrested with
all the evidences of his guilt in his possession.
He made a full confession afterwards, and
Fred Ardlamont heard that his father had been
fatally injured in the earthquake at San Fran
cisco. and before his death he had confded to
Anthony Crisp many facts of his life's history,
which enabled the ex-convict to carry out his
deception with so much success.