Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-06-04

wrote to every possible source of in- formation fin the effort to obtain some clew as to recent meteoric showers.
 No one thought of connecting the great storm with the diamond mys- tery." Meteors usually fall from clear sky and are in no way affected by atmospheric disturbances, their normal habitat being far beyond the influence of the eartli's envelope of air.
 And so the ''hunt for the meteor' commenced and was kept up with zest for many days Have you found itr' became the stock question of the hu- morist and might bc addressed with impunity to any stranger, particularly If the stranger were nice looking girl. No one answered What" because of the weird replies that were forthcom- Ing.
 The police failed utterly in their ef- forts to discover Philips identity or residence. Johnson's News, Mile End road, might as well be in Timbuktu for all the relation 1t bore to Ludgate Hill or Hatton Garden. An East End policeman might have recognized Phil ip had he seen him, but the official de- scription of his clothing and personal appearance applied to thousands of hobbledehoys in every district in Lon don.
 Two persons among the G.000O00 of the metropolis alone possessed the knowledge that would have led the in- quirers along the right track. The doctor who attended Mrs Anson in her last illness, had he read the newspaper comment on the boys speech and man. nerisms. might have seen the coinci- dence supplied by the Christian name and thus been led to make some fur ther investigation. But his hands were full of trouble of his own account A dispenser mixed prescription wrong ly and dosed patient with half an ounce of arsenic instead of half an ounce of cream of tartar. The suAse- quent inquest gave the doctor enough to do, and the first paper he had lei- sure to peruse contained bare refer ence to the diamond mystery" as re- vealing no further developments. He passed the paragraph unread.
 The remaining uncertain element centered in old o'Brien, the pensioner. Now 1t chanced that the treasury had discovered that by clerical mistake in warrant the old man had been drawing twopence day in excess of his rightful pension for thirty-three years. Some humorist in Whitehall thereupon sent him demand for f103 and 15 shillings, and the member of the Whitechapel division was com pelled to adopt stern tactics in the house before the matter was adjusted. and O'Brien was allowed to receive the reduced quarterly stipend then due. During that awful crisis the poor old fellow hardly ate or slept Even when it had ended the notion remain ed firmly fixed in his mind that the "murdherin' government had robbed him of hundred gowlden sovereigns an more"
 As for newspapers, the only item he read during many days was the ques- ton addressed by his "mimber' to the chancellor of the exchequer and the orrcr reply thereto, both or which were fixed beforehand by mutual arrange ment.
 Tn one instance the name given and afterward repudiated by the boy did attract some attention. On the Mon- day following the remand q lady sat at breakfast In select West End ho- tel and languidy perused the record of the case until her eye caught the words Philip Morland." Then her air of delicate hauteur vanished, and she left her breakfast untouched until, with hawklike curving of neck and nervous clutching of hands, she had read every line of the police court TO- nance. She was a tall, thin, aristo- cratic looking woman. with eyes set too closely together, curved nose like the beak of bird of prey and hands covered with leathery skin suggest ing talons. Her attire and pose were elegant, but she did not seem to be a pleasant sort of person. Her lips parted in a vinegary smile as she read. She evidently did not believe one word of the newspaper report in so far as the diamonds were concerned.
 "A vulgar swlndler' she murmured to herself. How is 1t possible for police magistrate to be taken in in such a manneri suppose Isaacsteln knows more about 1t than appears on the sur face. But how came the boy to give that namei It is sufficiently uncom- mon to be remarkable. How stupid 1t was of Julie to mislay my dressing case! It would be really interesting to know what has become of those people. and now may have to leave town be- fore I can find out"
 How much further her dlsjointed comments might have gone 1t Is im- possible to say, but at that moment a French maid entered the room and gag ed inquIringly around the various small tables with which 1t was filled At last she found the lady. who was breakfast ing alone, and sped swiftly toward her.
 "I am so glad, milady," she said. speaking in French. The bag has found itself at the police station. The cabman brought 1t there. and. If you please. mllady. as the value was given as fS. he claimed reward of fL'
 (Which you will pay yourself. You lost the bag" was the curt reply. "where Is itT'
 The maids voice was somewhat tear ful as she answered: