The Tupelo journal., 1910-03-11
CHAPTER VIII.

Margaret received her friends let
ter and the account of Baraka's trial
by the same post on the morning aft
er she and Mr.. Van Torp had been to
hear "Parsifal' together, and she
opened the two envelopes before read
ing her other letters, though after as
surfing herself that there was nothing
from Logotheti.
She read the newspaper cutting
first, supposing that it contained
something fattering about herself, for
she had been a little short of public
admiration for nearly a fortnight. Ba-
raka's case was reported with the
rather brutal simplicity which charac-
terizes such accounts in the English
papers, and Logotheti's name ap-
peared in Mr.. Pinney's evidence.
There had been the usual laughter
duly noted by the stenographer, when
the poor girls smart mans clothes
were produced before the magistrate
by the policeman who had arrested
her. The magistrate had made a few
stern remarks when ordering the de-
%linquents to prison, and had called
Baraka hardened" because she did
not burst into tears. That vas all,
and there were barely fiye-and-twenty
lines of small print.
But the prima donna bit her hand
some lip and her eyes sparkled with
anger, as she put the cutting back
into the first envelope, and took the
folded letter out of the other. The
girl had not only stolen a ruby, but
it was Margaret's ruby, her very own,
the one Logotheti had given her for
her engagement, and which she had
insisted upon having set as a ring,
though it would cover more than half
the space between her knuckle and
the joint of her third finger. Further,
it had been stolen by the very girl
from whom Logotheti had pretended
that he had bought it, a fact which
cast the high light OF absurdity on his
unlikely story! 1t IA natural enough
that she should have seen it, and
should have known that he was TAX
ing it to Pinney's. and that she should
have been able to prepare a little
screw of paper with a bit Of glass
inside, to substitute for it. The i'm
probabilities of such an explanation
did not occur to Margaret, who say
only the glaring fact that the hand
some Tartar girl had accompanied
Logotheti, between London and Paris,
disguished as a man, and had ulti-
mately robbed him, as he richly de-
served. She had imposed upon Van
Torp, too, and had probably tried to
sell him the very stone she had stolen
from Logotheti, and the n she had
made him take as a gift was nothing
but a bit of glass, as he said it might
be, for all he knew.
She devoured Lady Maud's letter in
a few moments, and then read it
twice again, which took SO long that
Mrs. Hushmore sent Justine to tell
Potts to ask if Miss Dome did not
mean to go out that morning, though
the weather was SO fine.
Great singers generally develop a
capacity for flying into RACES, even
if they have not been born with hot
tempers. It is very bad for the voice,
but it seems to be a part OF the life.
Margaret was very angry. and Potts
became as meek and mild as a little
lamb when she saw the storm signals
in her mistress face. She delivered
her message in a pathetic and op-
pressed tone, like a child reciting the
collect for the day at q Sunday
school.
The prima donna, imposing as a
young lioness, walked slowly back
wards and forwards between her win
dow and the foot of the iron bed
stead. There was an angry light in
her eyes and instead OF flushing, as
her cheeks did for any ordinary fit Of
temper, they were as white as q
Potts, who was a small woman.
seemed to shrink and become visibly
smaller as she stood waiting for an
answer. Suddenly the lioness stood
still and surveyed the poor little Jack
al that served her.