Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-08
CHAPTER vi.
Ivorr.

| door behind them. looked at Maxine. bat
she did not speak. With her finger to her
| lips she got up, trembling still, and walk
! ing to the door she opened it suddenly to
i look out. Nobody was there.
"They may have gone into your bed
| room to listen at that door, she whispered.
| I took the hint and, goinfi quickly into
| the room adjoining, turned on the light.
Emptiness there, but 1 left the door open
and the electricity switched on; they might
| change their minds or be more subtle than
| they wished to seem.
Maxine threw herself on the sofa, gather
| ing up the necklace from the cushion where
| it had fallen, and lifting it in both hands
pressed the glittering mass against her lips
and cheeks.
THANK God. thank God-and thank you.
1vor, best of friends she said brokenly,
| in so low voice that could have
caught her words, even If pressed against
the keyhole. Then, letting the diamonds
drop into her lap, she flung back her head
and laughed and cried together.
''Oh.. Ivor. Ivor!' she painted, between
her sobs and hysterical gusts of laughter.
THE agony of 1.-THE agony-and the JOY
Ivor-dear friend-saint."
At this laughed too. partly to calm her.
and patted gently the hands with which she
| had nervously clutched my sleeve.
Heaven knows I don't deserve one of
friend"
mot deserve them?" she repeated mot
deserve them. when you've saved mel
don't yet understand how-from horror
| worse than death-oh. but thousand times
worse. for I wanted to die. l meant to
die If they had found 1t. 1 shouldn't have
lived to see tomorrow morning. Tell me
how did you work such a miracle? How
did you get this necklace. that meant so
much to me land to one I love-, and how
did you hide the-other thing?"
Il don't know anything about this neck
lace" 1 answered. stupidity. Il didn't bring
it."
"You-didn't bring it?'
NO At least, that red leather thing ism t
the case 1 carried. When the fellow pulled
| 1t out from the sofa I saw 1t wasn't what
I'd had. so 1 thanked our lucky stars and
would have tried to let you know that all
hope wasn't over. IL I'd dared to catch
your eye or make signal"
Maxine was suddenly calm. The tears
had dried on her cheeks and her eyes were
| fever-bright
''Ivor. you can't know what you are talk
| ing about" she said in a changed voice.
That red leather case is what you took
out of your breast pocket and handed to me
when I first came into the room. At the
sound of the knock pushed 1t down as far
as 1 could between the seat and back OF
the sofa, and then ran off to distance be-
| fore the door opened. You did bring the
necklace. knowingly or not; and as 1t was
the cause of all my trouble in the beginning
I needn't tell you of the joy I had In seeing
| 1t, apart from the heavenly relief of being
| spared discovery of the thing I feared.
Now. when you've given me the other
packet. which you hid SO -marvelously, 1
can go away happy"
I stared at her, feeling more than ever
like one In dream.
II gave you the only thing I brought"
said 1T was In my breast pocket, inside
my coat. 1 took 1t out and put it In your
hands. There was no other thing. Look
again in the sofa. 1t must be there still.
This red case is something else-we can try
to account for It later. 1t all came through
SO dark you would have seen that 1 gave
you dark-green leather letter-case-qute
different from this. though of about the
same length-rather less thick, and"
Frantically she began ransacking the
crevtce between the seat and back of the
sofa, but nothing was there. We might
have known there would be nothing or the
commissarX Of police would have been be-
fore us. With cry she cut me short at
was deathly pale again and all the light
had gone out of her eyes, leaving them dull
as If she had been sick with some long i'll
ness.
What will become OF me?" she stam-
mered. 1.-The treaty lost My God-what
shall I do? Ivor, you are killing me. Do
you know-you are killing me?"
The word treaty" was new to me in this
connection. for the foreign secretary had
senger should be wholly In his secrets-and
Maxine's. Yet hearing the word brought
no great surprise. 1 knew that had been
catspaw in some game of high stakes. But
1t was Of Maxine l thought now, and the
Importance of the loss to heEs not the ma