The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-07-16
BY Mary Roberts Rinehart
Copyright, 1909, Tho Bobbs-Merrin Company

could have taken 1t. There wasn't
soul in this part of the house.
except the policeman. and he's
locked in"
At five o'clock we put her to
sleep in the den. She was in a
fearful temper. and I was glad
enough to be able to shut the
door on her. Tom HARRISON
that was his name-helped me to
creep upstairs. and wanted to get
me glass of ale to- make me
sleep. But / said 1t would be of
no use, as I had to get up and
get the breakfast. : The last thing
he said was that the policeman
seemed above the average In intel
ligence. and perhaps we could
train him to do plain cooking and
dish-washing.
did not go to sleep at once.
1 lay on the chintz-covered divan
in Bella's dressing-room and
stared at the picture of her with
the violets underneath. couldn't
see what there was about Bella
to inspire such undying devotion,
but l had to admit that she had
looked handsome that night. and
that the HARRISON man had GER
tainly been impressed.
At seven o'clock Jimmy Wilson
pounded at my door, and could
have choked him joyfully. l
dragged myself to the door and
opened 1t, and then / heard ex-
cited voices. Everybody seemed
to be up but Aunt Selma, and
they were all talking at once.
Anne Brown was in the center
of the group, waving her hands,
while Dallas was trying to hook
the back of her gown with one
hand and hold a blanket around
himself with the other. No one
was dressed except Anne, and she
had been up for an hour, looking
In shoes and under the corners of
rugs and around the bed clothing
for her jeweled collar. When
she saw me she began all over
again.
81 had It on when l went into
my ROOM" she declared, land ]
put 1t on the dressing-table when
1 undressed l meant to put II
under my pillow, but I forgot.
And l didn't sleep we'll: was
awake half the night. Wasn't I,
Dial? Then, when the clock down.
stairs in the hall was Ginning
five, something reused me, and /
sat up in bed. 1t was still dark,
but i pinched Dial and said there
was somebody in the room. You
remember that, don't you, DALI"
81 thought you had nightmare"
he said sheepishly.
'I lay still for ages, II seemed
to me, and then-the door into
the hall closed. 1 heard the catch
click. / turned on the light over
the bed then, and the room was
empty. I thought of my collar,
and although it seemed ridiculous,
with the house sealed as it is, and
all of us friends for years-well,
I got up and looked, and 1t was
gone!"
No one spoke for an instant.
1t was a queer situation, for the
collar was gone; Anne's red eyes
showed it was true. And there
we stood, every one of us miser-
able picture of guilt, and tried to
look innocent and debonair and
unsuspicious. Finally Jim held
up his hand. and signified that he
wanted to say something.
cts like this" he said, until
this thing is cleared up. for Heav-
ems sake, let's try to be sane! If
every fellow thinks the other fell
low did it, this house will be a
nice little hell to live in. And II
anybody"-here he glared around
IF anybody has got funny and
Is hiding those jewels, ] want to
say that he'd better speak up now.
Later, it won't be SO easy for him.
It's mighty poor joke"
But nobody spoke.