The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1911-04-25

Mrs. Foster whispered in her ear.
and the other smiled incro1ulously.
why. thar must equal the amount
of the duty on your pea Els.' she haz-
arded.
my dear. it's more than the duty
would be, and SO I've simply got to get
them through All. it is my turn now
She fastened away TO give up the key
to her trunks. and Eleanor heard her
shriII treble rising in expostulation
against the quick decisive tones of the
customs official.
And after awhile the official con-
suited a notebook and read something
therefrom to Mrs. Foster. With Bit
ter cry she gave up her umbrella, and
with a quick turn of his wrist the Of
fetal compelled that carefully manu-
featured article to disgorge the pearls.
After the confusion surrounding this
incident had died away Mrs. F'reer
found herself growing quite nervous,
as the other passengers in the ''F'' Sec
ton quickly made their declarations
and were promptly released. At last
she alone was left. and she came re-
luctantly forward with her keys.
One by one the trunks were thrown
open and her dainty belongings tossed
about for inspection. Memorandum
was made of her dutiable articles and
the trunks closed Then her hand
luggage was gone over carefully with
out result
At last the official Strengthened him.
self and looked her calmly in the eye.
THAT is all you have to declare,
MADAME" he asked
II have given you my keys-you see
what is there" returned Mrs. Freer
haughtily.
How about the diamonds 2" be ask
ed unpleasantly.
"Diamonds.' gasped Mrs. f'reer.
He nodded and consulted the same
notebook that had been the undoing
of little Mrs Foster.
"Our agents report that you purchas-
ed diamonds to the value of $4,000
when you were in Paris" he announc-
ed. Where are they?'
This is an outrage" stammered
Eleanor tearfully.
1T is the law, madam" be corrected
sternly. and then. II trust you will
not make a personal search necessary"
Mrs Freer hesitated. and then pride
came to her aid. 10 admit that she
had tried to smuggle diamonds through
the customs was too notifying to en-.
dure. She would face it out. They
would never guess where she had hid
den them-it was her own idea and
so clever
''Yeu may make the personal search
if you WISH" she said sWeetfy. And
then she was conducted to a small
room and placed in the hands of a
sharp eyed woman. who consulted with
the official in low tones before she
turned to Mrs. Freer.
will you please remove your hat,
MADAME" she asked 'courteously.
Certainly" returned Eleanor. with
little hysterical laugh. Il suppose
you believe have diamonds concealed
in my hair"
II have heard of stranger cases." re-
turned the woman grimly. mo,
madam, you needn't take down your
hair. | think | can locate them with
out"
She took the charming hat from
Eleanors shaking hands and held it
under strong drop light. Then she
drew forth pair of sharp scissors and
deliberately shipped one of the green
grapes from its stem. tore it open and
pulled out stufing of cotton wool,
from which dropped glistening gem.
While Mrs. Freer suffered mild hys-
terics. the woman calmly denuded the
hat of its green grapes. and from each
one she produced a stone, which she
laid in a tray She counted them care
fully and then called in the official.
What do you make of them?" she
asked.
He smiled broadly and nodded ap-
prevail at Mrs. Freer Pretty clever
trick. madam" he said, and she felt
grain of comfort in the knowledge that
her dishonesty was of high degree.
How did you guessY' she faltered.
mo guesSwork about it," he said
cheerfully. 1.-THE man who made your
grapes-to order. wasn't it?-happened
to be one of our spies: that's ALL"
He was examining the stones with a
strong glass. Then he turned to Flea
nor once more. why did you take
pains to smuggle through false stones,
MADAME he demanded
"False" she gasped. "Why. my
husband paid $4,000 for themv'
Then he was badly bitten. They're
not worth $780,"
1t was at this moment that John
Freer chose to arrive. admitted by the
magic of his card and coin of the re-
public.
His sharp eyes took in the situation
at glance-his fearful wife, her de-
nuded hat and the heap of imitation
diamonds.
Eleanor" he chided gently. what
did | warn YOU? Tell me what sort