Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1911-02-11

"rhe one who arrived yesterday aft
ernoon."
"No guest arrived yesterday after
noon"
"She came while you We're all away
i received her for you. and since dbl
not know what room to put her inl
| left her In mine. Come to think Oh
II, I've not seen her since"
II was all out that the thief was thisl
woman who had passed herself or on
me as her guest. Clara was SO delight
ed at what she considered nay vinGL
cation that she was about to rum
downstairs to make II public when Il
stopped her had suddenly regained
my head.
mot so fast" l said who win be.
ieve my story of this woman whom|
no one but I have seenT
81 do
"of course you do. but there srsl
others who will not, Promise me that
for the present you Will keep the mat
ter secret"
Other purposes than vindicatiou|
crowded upon me. | wished to seel
how Ralph Priestley would treat mel
while under cloud. Shortly before
dinner went down into the parlor.
Now that the matter was explained
to my own and my hosts satisfaction
| felt easier in presence of the others.
There were several In the room when
| entered. including Ralph and Sadie
who were sitting together on tete.
a-tete In the center of the room. II
walked past both of them without
looking at either and | did not bear
myself like a thief by any means.
walked to window. where II
stood looking out for few minutes
then passed into the library. Seating
myself at the long table in the center
of the room, | took up periodical. II
had been there but few minutes
when Ralph Priestley entered. l could
see by the expression on his face. bis
knit brows, that he was very much
disturbed.
II have been seeking an opportu,
nifty he began, when stopped him,
looking at him as severely as I could
and pointing to the door.
"Please listen to me-" he began
again.
81 will not listen to any man who.
while suffer under false accusa-
ton, not only fails to give me his sup
port but turns against me-"
81 have not turned against you. r.
you have devoted yourself to one
who has assumed that l am guilty
and has treated me accordingly"
arose and swept out of the room,
Smarting as l was under his having
transferred his attentions to my rival
"a rival who had taken no pains toI
conceal her opinion that had stolenl
the missing jewels--I confess reveIedI
in my treatment OF Ralph Priestley.
Finding that he was endeavoring to'
see me alone, 1 persistently kept Out
of his way except when there wersI
others about.
AS soon as the detective was In
formed of my story as to the woman3
who had passed herself of as guest
he began operations on a different line.
He took down as minute description
of her as was able to give him; also|
description of every article that wasI
missing asked him why she had
hidden the articles in my bureau draw
err and he said that by incriminnting|
some one in the house she hoped tai
divert suspicion from herself longI
enough to dispose of her plumber
For several days while he was al
work on the case remained with
,, the party, affable to those who werd|
affable to me, paying no attention td|
those who were cool to me- Therel
was side play going on that enjoy
ed watching. Sadie Stamper was en-
deavoring to hold on to Ralph Priest
ley, and Ralph was trying to get rid
of her. The poor fellow was betweenl
two fires. He knew that l would not
listen to him so long as he continued
his attentions to Sadie, and to break
away from her was not an easy mat
ter, especially as his only excuse was
that she believed me thief, which
| was no more than others of the party
| believed.
| Then one morning the detective re-
ported that he had found some of the
missing property in a pawnshops and
| within couple of days after the dis.
l-covery had arrested woman with
I.orc of II in her possession. She tai
lied With my description of her and
turned out to be living in the neigh
borhoOd of the Eyrie. This was the
reason she knew of the house party
| and the automobile excursion and was
/ able to concoct her plan of robbing
| the house.
| That evening at dinner our host let
out the story, returning a number of
| the missing articles to their owners.
was now in very enviable posi-
ton, knew those who were friend
| ly to me and had honored me with
| their confidence while had been I'M
der cloud. and knew those who
had not They all crowded around
me to show their good will and assure
me that they had not for a moment
believed me to be guilty. The only
person who did not approach me was
Ralph Priestley, whose every effort to
do so / had succeeded in thwarting
Now that was indicated he not
Dnly kept away from me. but Clara
rame to me after dinner to tell me
that he was going away on a late
train. l watched for him to come
| downstairs, and when he came. pre-
| pared for the journey, met him and
extended my hand. His countenance
changed from very lugubrious ex-
| preston to a very happy one. We.