Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-08-17

tips, anu WOulu Sill lin III tSTTOT from
any bauble that came to her stained
with the tiniest drop Of human blood.
She had loved her husband in
way; at any rate, she had always re-
spected and admired him. II seemed
impossible he would DO pnrty to
wrongdoing. Yet she could not shake
OF sensation Of dread whenever she
remembered how intimately the jewel
had nestled In the enows Of her throat,
and rivaled the brightness Of her eyes.
Could It be she had worn a gem whose
fire was more suited to the glow of an
inferno than to the Eden OF a good
woman's loveliness?
Drawing about her shoulders a soft.
warm shawl, she took q seat at win.
dow in her boudolr and sat gazing into
q sky pink and gray with daybreak,
trying to solve her real feelings IN
regard to the recovery Of the Mahara-
nee diamond. Sho was in tho midst
Of her meditation when she heard the
faint ringing Of bell at the other end
Of her big house In a little WHILE
q footman raped on the door Of her
u,
the girl, her eyes swollen with sleep,
approached the widow with card
bearing no name, but inscribed with
the message:
at is important that he permitted
to SEQ you at once"
At such an hour? Mrs Missioner
was astonished by the request. Who
could her early visitor be? Surely no
one in her own circle of ecuuaintances
would venture upon such liberty p
It were a question Of life or death,
there was still the telephone. Gecre-
cy was Indicated by the attenspt Of
the person to see her face to face.
Haste breathed in every word Of the
scholarly scrawl Mrs. Missioner was
not ultracon gentional but the request
for an interview at that time Of day
an hour that almost might be called
a time Of night-was beyond the scope
OF even her liberal views. However,
curiosity conquered, as it has been do.
ing In the cases of women. Jewels, and
apples since the world began. and she
informed her maid she would see tho
VlSltOr IN tHe library.
She controlled her eagerness for
understanding of the request never
theless. so we'll that when in leisure
~ way she reached the big room on
the main floor. the visitor was already
within It. He stood az window looll-
ing into a street and shielding him
self behind n curtain from chance
chances AS his head was bare, It was
not until the second glance that she
recognized the Swami She was not
only astonished. but startled by the
recognition. What could this mysteri
GUS student of the occult want with
her? What could possibly be the OBJ
an hour? He was an old acquaint-
ance in a sense, but one Mrs Mis-
sioner had not cultivated in this part
of the world.
He waited until she was close to
the hearthrug before lie turned. and
said with q profound bow:
Madam, my intrusion is excused
by the fact that can restore your
Jewels
'Is 1t possible." she exclaimed.
ut is more than possible. It is
fact accomplished" he answered.
Taking from an inner pocket a pack
age In silk tissue, he extended 1t
toward her with the words:
"You will find In this parcel, madam,
all the diamonds Of your necklace,
with the exception OF the largest
the Maharanee"
But the big diamond Of the whole
necklace-the Maharanee." cried Mrs.
Missioner. How did Won find these
and not find that"
81 have not said that did not re-
cover IT," said the Swami "On the
contrary, confess to you that
gained possession OF the Naharanee
at the time when I got these; but It
must not, cannot, be restored to you"
~ am grateful for what you have
DONE" the widow said gently; but I
am unable to understand your atti-
tude in regard to the missing stone.
Why should I not have that, too? It
is mine"
Madam" said the Oriental in tho
courtliest way, 81 would not for the
world say anything to disturb your
faith In your husband, There Is no
need Of doing SO. Your faith is war
ranted MI Missioner. when he said
that. thought he was telling the truth.
Unfortunately for you, as we'll as for
many others, he was not speaking the
truth. The renegade who sold that
jewel to your husband did not buy IL
from a Maharanee He did not buy it
from anyone. He stole it,"
stole IT," the widow cried, with a
little wall in her voice, Impossible, :"
Pardon me once more, madam. It
is so far from being impossible that
It is the strict truth, Nor was tho
theft the only crime of which the man
was guilty. In stealing that jewel, he
committed a dreadful sacrilege."
Mrs. Missioner was SO overcome BY
her emotions that she was Obliged, in
spite. OF her intention, to sit down.
and therefore 10 extend to her visitor
an invitation to be seated also before
she could get herself well enough in
hand to follow the swami's narrative
calmly.
THAT diamond" continued tho sage,
"once bla2ed in the forehead of the
great Buddha. in the Temple of Delhi.
1t was revered by thousands, hundreds
of thousands, by millions, as the most