Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-04

Yu-Continued.

~OV~~VVVV
XV.-Continued.
He enumerated his qualities specifcaliy,
| and condemned them all. lmprlms. he
was a conceited ass a fascinating young
criminal had but 10 toss her mead at MIN
to make him think that she was pieaseo
with him. to make him forget that she
was what she was and peiieVe ,nat oe
cause he was willing to stoop she was
willing to climb And he had betrayed
himself so mercilessly How she must
have laughed in her sleeve all the time.
while he pranced and bridled and preened
himself under her eyes. pilnded 10 MS
own id:ocv by the flame of a sudden in
fatuation-hoW she must have laughed!
Undoubtedly she had laughed. and.
mea surfing his deptll-or his shalloWness :
had determined to use MN 10 her ENDS
WHY noto 1t had been her business. her
professional duty to make use of him in
| order to accomplish her plundering. Ard
because she had not dared 10 ask MN Tor
the Jewels when he left her i'll the morn
ing she had naturally returned In the
evening to regain them. very confident.
doubtless, that even if surprised second
time she would get off scot -free I'm
fortunately for her. this fellow Anisty
had interfered. Maitland presumed cynic-
ally that he ought to be grateful to
Ansty. 4" -" The unaccountable scoun-
drel! Why had he returned?
How the girl had contrived to escape
was. of course. more easy to understand.
Maitland recalled that sudden clatter of
hoofs in the street, and he had only to
make a trip to the window to verify his
suspicion that the cab was gone. She
had simply overheard his concluding re-
marks to the cabby and taken pardonable
advantage of them. Maitland had footed
the bill. She was welcome to that.
however. He. Maitland. was well rid of
| the whole damnable business. Yes.
jewels and ALL
What were the jewels to him?
Beyond their sentimental associations he
did not hold them greatly in prize. OF
course. since they had been worn by his
mother he would spare no expense or eff
fort to trace and re-collect them. for that
dim sainted memOrys sake. But in this
case. at least. the traditional usage OF
the Maitlands would never be carried out.
1t had been faithfully observed when.
after his mothers death. the stones had
been removed from their settings and
stored away: but now they would never
be reset. even should he cOntrive to re-
assemble them. to adorn the bride of the
Maitland heir. For he would never
marry. OF course not.
| Maitland was young enough to believe
and to extract melancholy satisfaction
| from this.
Puzzled and saddened. hfs mind harked
back for ever to that carking question
Why had she returned? What had
brought her back to the fiat? If she and
| Anisty were confederates, as one was
inclined at times to beleve-if such were
| the case, Anisty had the jewels. and there
was nothing else of ANY particular value
| so persiStently to entice such expert and
| accomplished burglars back to his fiat
What else had they required OF him? His
| peace of mind was nothing that they
could turn into cash, and they seemed to
have reaved him of nothing else.
But they had that; unquestionably they
| had taken that ..
| And still the riddle haunted him: Why
had she come back that night? And.
| whatever her reason, had she come in
| Anisty's company or alone? One minute
| 1t seemed patent beyond dispute that the
girl and the great plunderer were hand
in glove; the next minute Maitland was
positively assured that their recent meet
| Ing had been altogether accident.
| From what he had heard over the tele-
phone. he had believed them to be quar-
reling. although at the time he had as
signed to O'Hagan the masculine side to
| the dispute. But certainly there must
have arisen some difference of opinion be-
tween Anisty and the girl to have drawn
from her that frantic negative Maitland
had heard. to have been responsible for
the overturning of the chafr-an accident
that seemed to argue something in the
nature of physical struggle: the chair
Itself still lay upon its side. mute witness
to a hasty and careless movement on
somebody's part. . -
But it was all inexplicable. Eventually
Maitland shook his head. to signify that
he gave 1t up. There was but one thing
to do-to put 1t out Of mind. He would
read bit. compose himself. go to bed
Preliminary to doing so. he would take
steps to insure the fiat against further
burglariZing. for that night. at least The
dra ught moving through the hall stirred
the portiere and reminded him that the
window in the trunk room was still open.
an invitation to any enterprising sneak
thief or secOnd-story man. So Maitland
went to close and make it fast
AS he shut down the window sash and
clamped the catch he trod on something
soft and yielding. Wondering. he stopped
and picked it up and carried it back to
the light. 1t proved to be the girls
handbag.
Now admitted Maitland. in a tone of
absolute candor. II am ID. How the
dickens did this thing get there. anyway
What was she doing in my trunk closet p
Was it possible that she had followed
Anisty out of the fiat by that route? A
very much mystified young man sat him,
self down again in front of his desk. and
| turned the bag over and over in his
| hands. keenly scrutinizing every inch OF
| it and whispering softly.
| That year the fashion in purses was
| for capacious receptacles of grained
| leather. nearly square in shape and fur
| nished with chain handle. This which
| Maitland held was conspicuously of the
| mOde-neither too large. nor too small
constructed of fine. soft leather of gun
metal shade. with framework and chain
of gun metal itself 1t was new ana
seemed we'll filled. weighing trifle heavy
| in the hand. One face was adorned with
monogram of cut gun metal. the in
| itials "S'' and &c" and 81" interlaced
But beyond this the bag was irritatingly
non committal.
| Undoubtedly. if one were to go to the
length Of unsnapping the little. frai
clasp, one would acquire information: by
such facile means would much light be
shed upon the darkness But Maitland
put decided negative to the suggestion
No. He would give her the benefit OF
the doubt. He would wait. he would
would come back for it-and explain. Per
haps he could find her by advertising it
and get an explanation. Pending which
| he could wait a little while. 1t was not
| his wish to pry into her secrets, even if
| even If
| 1t was something to be smoked over
- Strange, how it affected him to have
| In his hands something that she had
! owned and touched!
Opening a drawer of the desk Maitland
| produced an aged pipe. A brazen jar
| companion piece to The ash receiver. held
| his tobacco. He filled the pipe from the
| jar with thoughtful deliberation And
scraped a match beneath his chair and
| ignited the tobacco. and pulled in con-
templative contentment, deriving solace
| from each mouthful of grateful, evan
escent incense. Meanwhile he held the
charred match between thumb and fore
finger. =.