The Donaldsonville chief., 1911-12-30

Griswold anew, II pray Heaven
shall never hear your name again
| unless 1t be under circumstances that
will give me further opportunity to-
| revenge myself upon you!"
Silence followed the theatrical out
burst of the woman. Griswold stood
with clasped hands, his eyes on the
floor Mrs Missioner, her eyes reso-
| lutely averted from his crouch1ng
form, gazed at Britz expectantly.
Elinor, her fine womanhood athr1ll
with sympathy in spite OF her weeks
| of suffering-more keenly because OF
1t, perhaps-sought to soothe the ag1-
tation of Mrs. Delaroche, who ives
close to collapse Fitch, too, stl~vs
| to calm the woman AS a man he
| pitied her; as a physician, he felt
some alarm for her because Of the
great excitement to which she had
wrought herself-excitemen plainly
beyond the endurance of her emo
tional nature A feeling akin to In
dignation stirred him when, glancfng
toward Britz, he saw sarcastic smile
on the detectives face. His hands
In his pockets, he was rocking gently
on his heels, and watching Mrs. Della
roche as one would concentrate his
vision on a great traged.enne near
the grand finale Of her performance
"Bravo!" said the lieutenant de-
tective at last. 'tBravissimo, Mrs.
Delaroche! If 1t were not for detain-
ing our good friends. I'd insist upon
an encore. Really, you know, you're
entitled to any number of curtain
calls for that"
The heroine of the Renaissance
burglary flashed furious eyes upon
| him. Fitch, despite all he knew Britz
had done for Elinor, could not con-
ceal his anger. Even Miss Holcomb
was indignant Mrs. Missioner and
Sands le7Ged at the detective expect
| antly. Manning's face was impassive.
He was prepared for any surprise
from his shrewd lieutenant.
"You behold in Mrs. Delaroche, :"
/ said Britz, including everybody in q
] sweep of his hand, zone Of the most
talented actresses in America. True,
she isn't on the stage. but that's only
because the managers haven't discov-
cred her. If any of the big managers
/ saw such an example of her art as
this, he'd engage her on the spot"
II don't understand you, Mr.. Britz, =
said Mrs. Missioner inquiringly.
Mrs De1aroche understands me,
Mrs Missioner" returned the sleuth.
She knows exactly what mean.
Don't you, Mrs. De1aroche p
mol" said the woman from the
Renaissance SO sharply the word was
like a poniard thrust.
"No?" retorted the detective. How
truly unfortunatel Surely you are
mistaken, madam; surely you recall
what happened In Paris? It can't be
you've forgotten how you obtained
possession of the Missioner necklace
A the one with the Maharanee dia
mond, you know?"
She clung to silence as to rock
of refuge. Britz, still rocking lightly
on his heels, raised finger warning
ly and h)ked at her with that same
sarcastic smile.
"You know as well as I do, Mrs
Delaroche," he went on, that Curtis
Griswold didn't steal the Maharanee
upon him, he Is guiltless of that-ir
act, at any rate"
The woman kept her eyes on the
floor, her face partly turned away
All the others stared at Britz IL
amazement, not excepting the Chic
Of the Detective Bureau.
Lets run through the pages O.
history, Mrs. Delaroche," continued
the lieutenant Personal history, O.
course-the history of clever little
Miss Vincent, one of the brightes
young women in Paris. You remem
Der her when she was an art studen
there, getting along as we'll as she
could on a New England income ii
! the Latin Quarter. A bright, cleve
| little girl she was, to be sure, and /
was too bad she had such a hart
struggle to realizs her artistf
) dreams!"
All his hearers listened attentivel,
Mrs. Delaroche, in spite OF resolut
efforts to appear Indifferent, full a
faithfully as the others.
Prince Kananda moved forward un
til he stood within several feet o
Mrs. Delaroche. She turned her hea
slightly and saw him. A glance 0
mutual recognition passed betwee,
them, but SO quickly that 1t was ur
observed by the others. The Prime
eyed her steadily, with malignan
gaze, as of mar who has bee,
tricked. a wild fear leaped into he
eyes and she moved away edgin
closer to Britz.
ut isn't to be wondered at" sal
Britz sympatheticatly, when you re
call the many ha7dships Miss Viz
cent endured-When you remembe
on how many mornings she had t
trudge to her copying work In tn
Louvre without even the poor cor
| ISOLATION of French breakfast. tha