The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1912-12-20

1
sary's office when she came to tell
him of it, l promised her to do my
best, and have sent her a note that
will make her happy. l reckon she
( will be here tomorrow to ask for her
bike"
Tips had aroused my curiosity.
When she comes / want to see
her"
"All right, sir
| Before calling on Baron s.
made an inquiry about Alfred o.,
and what heard was deplorable. The
| fortune he had inherited from his
mother was squandered in less than
two years, and his father, retired
colonel was almost ruined by his
sons extravaganza. Alfred raised
| money when he could, and in a gam
| bling-club had been accused of at
tempting to cheat. This charge had
never been proved and it ended in a
duel, when he ran two inches of steel
| into his traducer's body. He belonged
to good family, and was distantly
related to Madame H, whose
house he visited regularly.
The baron, | learned, had an estate
in Russia, where he passed the sum
mer. The winters he spent in Paris and
he was very popular in the world on
l'on s'muse. He had an apartment in
! the Avenue de PAlma and / went
there toward eleven in the morning.
His servant tall, well-built young
man, informed me in bad French with
strong Russian accent that his mas
ter was having his bath, and would
receive me in few minutes. He
soon appeared, distinguished, aristo-
cratic man.
l apologized for disturbing him so
early, and begged him to give me an
account of the disappearance of his
| coat.
Between ourselves" he smiled, 81
am surprised these accidents do not
happen oftener This is my second
winter in Paris, and the third time
| have attended one of these functions.
They are a boon to the Paris thieves.
l am sorry lost my fur coat; 1t was
| tell you how it occurred-Boris!"
| The valet, at the baron's request,
| then explained to me, in his abomin-
able French, that he had been waiting
! in the hall for his master. with the
coat over his arm. Finding it cumber-
some, with so many people passing in
and out, he had put 1t in little room
leading from the hall and when he
went to fetch 1t it was gone.
But why did you not leave it in
charge of one of the servants?"
| asked.
81 expected my master to come down
every moment, and as the door of the
little room was open I could keep my
eyes on the coat all the time. / may
have lost sight of 1t for second"
The baron shrugged his shoulders
and heard the wood fool
put fef questions; but as neither
the baron p.s5 Boris could supply any
further information. 1 withdrew. In
the room had detected peculiar per
fume. very faint, without being able
to fix it with certainty. | could not
positively say whether 1t emanated
! from the room itself or from one OF
the men. Slight as it was, 1t caught
my attention. as my sense of smell is
acute.
| had written a note to Alfred O.
asking him to call, and found him
waiting for me. need not describe
that type of young man-to be met
on the race-course, at first nights, al
fashionable gatherings-to whom life
is nothing but huge joke. He roar
ed with laughter when l preached the
subject Of the robbery. ~
please excuse me, Monsieur Goron
the whole thing is so ludicrous. Ok
you know. that Uncle Jerome. whom
you saw this morning, darkly hinteC
that stole the pendant? l heard i
from the little German governess.
think he does 1t out of revenge be
cause made fun of 1t. You neve
saw anything so ugly The diamonds
are magnificent, but the design is gro
tesque, with that silly little aowe
dangling at the end"
"You were at Madame HIS thu
day the pendant was stolen?"
Yes. the greater part of the after
noon"
did you notice anything likely L
throw any light on the affair."
Nothing whatever. 1t seems YER
strange. Uncle Jerome is terribly III
set: but, l think, more on account o
the coat The old chap is proud of hi
acquaintance with baron.'
The next day when was busy inves
tigating a case that had happened dun
ing the night, was informed tina
Georgette Chevallier, alias Tips, wa
downstairs. having come about he
bicycle.
SHOW her in at once" l said
Georgette was pretty. She wa
small, remarkably graceful, with large
brown. intelligent eyes.
You wanted to see me?" she RI
marked in a gentle voice.
madame Georgette-' | began.
. please call me Tips; everybod
does
Very well; Tips, since you prefe
. it, had the pleasure of seeing you
couple of days ago
Me? Where"
I'm a cab; you were talking
| lyour friend"
, What friend?'
Alfred o."
, HE is not my friend, Monsieu
r Goron. Not in the sense you mean
and / do not understand you"
: Never mind. Tips. By the way, al
you glad your bicycle is found?"
Rather. But the stupid people {
, ltho Police Commissariat are fussin