Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-08-23

pardon my agitation. This cry-you
need not seek its source-ls one to
which l am only too well accustomed.
have been the happy father of six
children. Five l have buried, and be-
fore the death of each this same cry
has echoed in my ears. l have but
one child left, daughter. She Is i'll
at the hotel. Do you wonder that |
shrink from this note of warning and
show myself something less than a
man under its influence? | am going
home; but, first, one word about this
stone" Here he lifted it and bestowed
or appeared to bestow on 1t an anxious
scrutiny, putting on his glasses and
examining it carefully before passing
it back to the inspector.
81 have heard" said he, with a
change of tone which must have been
noticeable to every one, that this
stone was very superior one and
quite worthy of the fame it bore here
in America. But, gentlemen, you have
all been greatly deceived in it; no one
more than he who was willing to COM
NIT murder for it's possession. The
stone which you have just been good
enough TO allow me to inspect Is no
diamond, but a carefully manufactured
bit of paste not worth the rich and
elaborate setting which has been given
to it. l am sorry to be the one to
say this, but have made study of
precious stones, and I cannot let this
bare faced imitation pass through my
hands without a protest. Mr. Rams
dell" this to our host, Il beg you will
allow me to utter my excuses and de-
part at once. My daughter is worse
this l know as certainly as that l am
standing here. The cry you have heard
is the one superstition Of our family.
Pray God that find her alive!
After this what could be said?
Though no one who had heard him, not
even my own romantic self, showed
any belief in this Interpretation of the
remarkable sound that had just gone
thrilling through the house, yet, in face
of his declared acceptance of it as a
warning and the fact that all efforts
had failed to locate the sound or even
to determine its source, no other
course seemed open but to let this dis
tinguished man depart with the sud
denness his superstitious fears de-
manded.
That this was in opposition to the
inspectors wishes was evident enough
Naturally he would have preferred Mr..
Grey to remain, If only to make clear
his surprising conclusions in regard to
diamond which had passed through
the hands of some of the best judges
in the country without doubt having
been raised as to its genuineness.
With his departure the inspectors
manner changed. He glanced at the
stone in his hand and slowly shook his
head.
Il doubt If Mr.. Grey's judgment can
be depended on tonight" said he and
pocketed the gem as carefully as if his
belief in its real value had been but
little disturbed by the assertions Of
this renowned foreigner.
l have no distinct remembrance Of
how finally left the house or of what
passed between my uncle and myself
on our way home. l was numb with
the shock, and neither my intelligence
nor my feelings were any longer active.
l recall but one impression. and that
was the effect made on me by my old
home on our arrival there, as Of some
thing new and strange, so much had
happened and such changes had taken
| place in myself since leaving 1t five
hours before. But nothing else Is vivid
in my remembrance till that early hour
of the dreary morning when, on wax
ing to the world with a cry. l beheld
my uncle's anxious figure bending
over me from the footboard
Instantly l found tongue and ques-
ton after question leaped from my
lips. He did not answer them. He
could not. But when l grew feverish
and insistent he drew the morning
paper from behind his back and laid
it quietly down within my reach. l
felt Gained in an instant, and when
| after a few affectonate words he left
me to myself l seized on the sheet and
read what so many others were read
ing at that moment throughout the city.
l spare you the account SO far as 1t
comedies with what l had myself seen
and heard the night before. A few
particulars which had not reached my
ears will interest you. The instrument
of death found in the place designated
| by Mr.. Durand was one of note to such
as had any taste or knowledge of
curios. 1t was a stlletto of the most
delicate type, long, keen and slender.
not an American product, not even of
this century's manufacture, but relic
of the days when deadly thrusts were
given in the corners and byways Of
medieval streets.
This made the first mystery.
The second was the as yet unex-
plainable presence on the alcove floor
Of two broken coffee cups, which no
waiter nor any other person, in fact,