Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-06-22
CHAPTER |.
In the Diamond Horseshoe.


Song. and in a moment the Metropoli-
tan Opera House was in confusion.
The cry, half suppressed, broke the
spell peculiar to Faust night. The
somewhat portly Marguerite, her
voice soaring like a cage-born bird
suddenly freed, was decking her ma
ture person with the glistening stage
gems left on her scenic doorstep by
the suavest of devils. AS the singer
hung about her neck the rope of pearls
with which Mephisto planned to fet-
ter her soul, Mrs. Missioner, swinging
her fan with freer motion, struck
the slenderest part of her diamond
collarette. The blow was sharp. the
golden thread on which the choicest
of the Missioner jewels in their per-
forated settings were strung, snapped.
Instantly most of the freed drops or
frozen fire that constituted Mrs Mis-
sioner's magnificent necklace-the
one with the Maharanee diamond
were rolling on the floor of the box.
Mrs. Missioner, as the little scream
broke from Dorothy March, a debu-
tante she had taken under her wing
for the evening, clutched at the few
diamonds that fell into her lap. Miss
March drew her skirts tightly about
her ankles and shrank into a corner
OF the box making room for the man
who sprang to Mrs. Missioners aid.
Before another moment sped, Curtis
Griswold was on his knees scooping
together the scattered jewels with
snow-gloved hands. Bruxton Sands,
slower of movement, bent with more
dignity to the task. In the next box,
separated from Mrs. Missioner's only
by low velvet rail, man Of Orien-
tai features and complexion turned
to watch the scramble for the jewels.
Though he did not stir from his place,
his hawk-like face seemed to thrust
Itself into the center of the excited
group.
Continue! CONTINUED" the singer
urged, as she bent her gaze from the
box to the conductor.
Whats the matter? Go on! Go
on" the stage manager cried in I'M
dertones from the wings. Ushers in
the back of the house sought to cover
the confusion with ill-timed applause.
The moment was big with potential
tragedy. One cry of Fire." might
have sent those thousands Of startled
women and men battling along the
aisles in an elemental fury of self
preservation. Mere prolongaton OF
the situation without that tori
BILE tocsin might have ended iii a
smaller panic. But the liquid tones
OF the soprano soaring again in the
pyrOtechnics of the Jewel Song re-
claimed the attention CT the audience.
The conductor, evidently eager to hide
his own momentary loss Of poisc, fair
ly lifted his men through the intr-
cacies of the accompaniment.
Promptness Of action by the stage
manager restored order behind the
scenes.
Nothing of all those incidents struck
the sense of anyone in the Missioner
box. All four of its occupants were
concerned for the immediate recovery
of the diamonds that had sprung from
Mrs. MisslOpers neck to her lap, and
then stampeded across the floor.
the greater number. Sands. man Of
action as we'll as of millions, picked
up the larger gems. Miss March
shrank further into her corner of the
box, and dragged her petticoats ever
more closely until her immature form
Ieemed chiseled in tule.
Look in all the corners-look
AvaryWhlra Mrc Missioner urpod
There's one behind the chair" she
pointed.
There's another" cried Dorothy,
pointing at Griswold's feet. A glance
from the dark stranger in the next
box directed the searchers toward
still another part of the floor, and
every move was rewarded by the re-
covery OF a cleaning stone One by
one by twos. by threes. the diamonds
were gathered, and still the search
went on. Fast as they scooped them
up, Sands and Griswold poured the
glitterng treasure into Mrs. Mis-
Sioner's lap,
Are they all there?" asked the
millionaire.
mo, no." answered the widow
There are several more Please look
again-look everywhere. Dorothy
help me count them"
Griswold and Sands renewed their
search, peering into the remotest cor
ners, pushing chairs about. looking
reaching, gasping with the zeal OF
Klondikers, urged again and again
by the owner of the Jewels.
The glttering horseshoe OF the Met
ropoltan deserves its name The
KafIlrs of Kimberly, the pearldiverS
of Polynesia, the gold-seekers Of the
Klondike, the diggers into earth's sc
crets the world over toll ceaselessly
to maintain the brilliance of that bis
Jewel show. They send their dia
monds and rubies and emeralds ant
sapphires, their pearls and opals ant
gold, to CLEAN on the heads ant
breasts and gowns of women whom
the industry of one generation, or the
stock-market luck of another, hal
crowned with riches. night at thu
opera Is a parade OF the wonder!
gems can work and OF that which, tot
often. gems can buy.
In all that electric sparkle, n
gems outshone the Missioner jewel!
CT which the necklace Mrs MissiOne
wore that night was the masterpiece
For in its center blazed the famOu
MGharanee diamond