The Tupelo journal., 1911-09-08

But II l am ~fnnocent!' she pro
tested.
You must prove It." continued Mr..
Grimm mercilessly. Personally, / am
convinced, and Count di Rosini has
practically assured me that"
Its UNJUST" she interrupted pas
| sionately. It's it's o have
proved nothing. It's unheard Of! It's
beyond!
Suddenly she became silent. 4 min
ute. two minutes, three minutes
passed; Mr.. Grimm waited patiently.
win you give me time and oppor-
tunity TO prove my i~nnocence?" she
demanded finally. And If / do con-
vince you"
81 should be delighted to believe
that ] have made a mistake" Mr..
Grimm assured her. How much time?
One day? Two days"
Il will let you know within an hour
at your Office" she told him.
Mr.. Grimm rose.
And meanwhile, in CASE Of accident,
shall look to Count di Rosini for ad-
justment," he added %pointedly. Good
morning"
One Uour and ten minutes later he
received this note, unsigned:
CLOSED carriage will stop for you
at southeast corner of Pennsylvania
Avenue and Fourteenth Street tonight
at one"
He was there; the carriage was on
time; and my lady of mystery was in
side. He stepped In and they swung
out into Pennsylvania Avenue, noise
lessly over the asphalt.
should the gold be placed in your
hands now, within the hour she
oueried solicitously. would it be nee
essary for you to know who was the
the theft"
ut would" Mr.. Grimm responded
without hesitation.
Even If it destroyed a reputation"
she pleaded.
"The Secret Service rarely destroys
a reputation. Miss Thorne, although it
holds itself in readiness to do so. I
dare say in this case there would be
no arrest or prosecution, because Of
of reasons which appear to be good.
There Wouldn't and there was q
note of eagerness in her voice. The
identity of the guilty person would
never appear
1T would become a matter of recaSsd
in our Office, but beyond that ! think
not at least IN this IL instance.
Miss Thorne sat silent for a block
or more.
You'll admit, Mr.. Grimm, that you
have forced me into a most remark
able position. You seemed convinced
OF my guilt, and, if you'll pardon me.
without reason; then you made II
compulsory upon me to establish my
innocence. The only way for me TO
do that was to find the guilty one. l
have done it, and I'm sorry. because
it's a little tragedy"
MIR. Grimm waited.
It's a girl high in diplomatic so
ciety. Her fathers position is an hon
orable rather thar a lucrative one;
he has no fortune. This girl moves
in a certain set devoted to bridge, n
stakes are high. She played and
aud played and won, and on n on.
until her winnings We're about elght
thousand dollars. Then luck turned.
She began to lose. Her money went,
but she continued to play desperately.
Finally some old family jewels We're
pawned without her fathers knowl-
edge, and ultimately they were lost-
One day she awoke to the fact that
she owed some nine or ten thousand
dollars in bridge debts. They We're
pressing and there was no way TO
meet them. This meant exposure ana
utter ruin, and women do strange
things, Mr.. Grimm, to postpone sucn
an ending to social aspirations. l
know this much is true, for she re-
lated it all to me herself.
cat last. in some way-a misplaced
letter, perhaps, or a word overheard
she learned that fifty thousand dollars
would be in the legation bank over
night. and evidently she learned the
precise night" She paused a moment.
Here is the address of a man in Bal
tlIHOTc, i lOIIdS ". A Jaw
passed a card to Mr.. Grimm. a sat
~motjcnless, listening. About four
years ago the combination on the lega-
ton safe was changed. This man was
sent here to make the change, there
fore some one besides Senior Rodriguez
does know the combination. have
communicated with this man TO-DAY.
for I saw the possibility OF just sucn
a thing as this instead OF your stetn-
oscope. BY a trick and . forged let
ter this girl obtained the combination
from this man"
Mr.: Grimm drew = long breath.
"She intended to take, perhaps, only
what she desperately needed-but AZ
sight Of It aldo you see what must
have been the temptation then! We
get out here
There were many unanswered Ques-
lions in Mr.. Grimm's mind. He re-
pressed them for the time, stepped out
and assisted Miss Thorne to ahgnt.
The carriage had turned out Of Penn
M - 49, @Nr44