New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-30
Continued from pag, Z


arbo c,;rngorm law on EthclS dressing
,otJo She and | were in the room, with
coIorcd maid. When neither was looking |
took the brooch and hid it in my dress !
waited till the maid had gone, and then l
oskcd for it. The maid was accused anu
ybcn She denied all knowledge OF It, poor
o;rlr was dismissed She had been WIN tI!c
family All her liz. Wash II awful; buI II
was curious how little it affected me: mere
some sort of moral opium 1t diStiS' Oic
doesn't care what wrctChedncSS or injustice
one innicts. Oh, it's hideouS.
$50 il went on year after year tlc S'ctF
ing.-somctimcs in shops, sometimes III ''0
houses Of my friends, in public buildings
anywhere the fit seized me. | took every
thing nv mania fancicd. Often ! threw 'he
things away as soon as | had secured thci''
Sometimes | replaced them. You nave no
idea what queer vagaricS one mas no" oi.'
will wait for days weeks, for chance 10 a(I'
The obscSsion is, for the time DeiiS' I"o
most important thing in ones HE.
"But there's one thing you must uh.icI-
stand and believe. 1t was one only parIlOu,,
lar detail that was wrong with my moan ,:il
sense. not a general pcrversion: 1t IKE
naranoia. it seems TO have nothing 10 90
with other parts of ones morality. One can
bc kind. pure, temperate, unScl"sh, IN every
thing else. in everything that doesn't bear
on this special act. You man, ana must
pcrceive how such a thing can be. Haven
Won known dissipated men who were gen
crous and loval? If man is selfish, ne
usually bad all over; but if he IS a drunkard
he can still bc affectonatc. SO, | hope you
won't think Of me then as wholly vie.
stole in this frcakish way because was IT.
rcsistiblv impelled to; but otherwise thlnk
I was as good as any woman could be. IN
deed, knowing my fault, tried the harder
TO make nv life better in other ways.
"Have YOU ever heard that sometimes,
when a mans shot, they don't remove the
bullet Hit lodges in part where there no
danger or inconvenience, they let II stay,
and a cyst is formed round it 50 that 1t IS
completely surrounded and it can't poison
the system Well, this thing seemed like
that. with me. 1t seemed to be apart from
nv normal moral sense. But moral sore
can't really heal like that, suppose. It's
ALWAYS malignant 1t has to be cut out, or
2Wcn. this trait did grow. ! took more
and more. became more cunning. nave
never been caught or even suspected to this
dav. grew boldcr with every success;
boidcr but never reckless. Then came the
necklace affair. That was the climax.
A YEAR ago | was in Paris with my
"A mother We had many acquaintance,
in the best circles, in the Sorbonnc, in the
Academy. in the Deputies, in the old no.
blcsscs Of the Faubourg Saint German
One Of my best friends was Countess da
Scarpi. Roman lady Of an old Italian fam
ilv. She had little necklace Of rublcS.
Here it is. Pretty, isn't it? Yet always
think Of it as twcnty-scvcn drops Of blood.
"That necklace had to have knew
should try for it, knew should get it, knew
| should not be discovered in the theft.
did succeed. Here il is. Have you examined
il. The stones are small. but flawlcss. II Is
cxqusitcy designed, seventeenth century
Workmanship; it is worth, | should say,
about forty thousand dollars. But | have
never worn it, scarcely even looked at it,
since got it. All my pleasure was in the
winning OF II.
1T cost me nothing, | thought. Nothing
Cod The cost was terrific, Listen. Be
cause Of my theft two sisters became cS-
trangcd. an ambitious and talented young
naval Lieutenant shot himself. Oh, he was
so handsome, so splendid, \ half-dozcn
family servants lost their places and never
found other employment All this | knew;