Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-03-14

"oh. | do wish the rain and wind
Would stop cried the girl in distress.
as she Strove to make Roadway. With
opened umbrella, against u bowling
wind that drove The rain ti%ercely before
il.
She stood still for Il With the
Intention OF closing the umbrella. and
then she SAW she was ia front OF The
steps nj The Holborn Niaduct. ~ ook
immediate refuge under The shelter OF
the archway at the top of the steps in
oruer to save herself from IL thorough
drenching.
She had scarcely reached the shelter
when The figure of a man appeared.
Here. tax il. quick. and be off; I'm
~ShadoWed." cried the man, whom she
could barely distinguish i'm the gather
ing darkness. He thrust something into
tn. hands of the bewildered girl and
lleW DOWN the steps. AT the same mo
nlent there came Il shout from the
roadway-a shout. followed by Il cry
that rose above the noise of the rattle
of cabs and omnibuses. Nora UNDER
stood that some poor creature had been
rum over in attempting to cross the
road. n the thought, i'm her present
distressed and agitated condition, upset
her greatly.
go home." She almost sobbed Home"
1T sounded like Il mOckery. II can
get Il bus from here to go part of the
a
Fortune favored her i'm a small way
and She was successful in obtaining an
inside seat right at one end.
Having now ON time in which to
think collectively and to breathe freely
She began TO reflect on the probable
nature of the injuries suffered by that
unfortunate Pedestrian, and then the
recollection of the man in the archwuy
"a t.la IN hae Ill ~ a,c.1,
Where was that something which he
thrust into her hands, or. to speak
more correctly, that which he had
pushed against her hands? She tried
TO remember whether she had actually
grasped the object or not. but she could
not recall the exact occurrence. Where
was il? She had not got it. so much
was certain. 1T must have dropped to
The ground: probably she let it fall
when the cry fell on her ears.
Nora's home was II small bed-sitting
room in the equally small house kept
by Mr.. and Mrs. Smithers.
Mrs. Smithers was out when Nora re-
turned, so the girl let herself I'm with
the key which had beer lent her.
She did her best to be cheerful, but
1t was Il relief when she lay her head
on her pillow. In the morning she felt
better and ready once more to resume
the hunt for a situation. Two days
passed i'm Il weary search for the means
OF earning IL living, and on each of
these evenings she passed unintention-
ally over the viaduct. On the second
day she was passing those steps when
a hand was placed OF her shoulder.
Were you standing here i'm the rain
two evenings ago?' asked "a voice.
She looked up with a start, and saw
a man of about 70 gazing fiXedly at her
with keen. blue eyes.
Yes, she responded. a feeling OF
fear creeping over her. "Why?'
why? That being so you can tell
me what became of that small packet
of stolen property" was the r%ejoinder.
Il do not now" poor
Nora, i'm dismay at this notification of
her original suspicion. II don't think
l had it. That is. J don't know amy
thin. about it,
HIM" thought Maurice. II thought
that she was a new hand and was mak-
ing "A mess of ii, but this looks like
genuine innocence. No, l don't think
there, is any acting here. Then. what
on earth is at the bottom of 1T ALP"
Aloud he said: II beg your pardon. l
see that there is some mistake. some
mystery that l did not suspect. | am
a detective, trying to unravel a tangle.
You may be able to throw some light
on it. Can l see you anywhere?"
IF you like TO come to Mrs. Smith
ers' this evening, she will be at home,
and I will tell you all know"
'.Thank you" he said, courteously.
and made a note OF the address.
I'm sure don't know if l have don
right" cried Nora to Mrs. Smithers.
at the end of her story. But l told
him.. and no doubt he will come. He
gave me his card; his name is Maurice
Westmoir."
Maurice Westmoir arrived.
You wonder how it was that 1 knew
Won were the lady who WAS standing
at that spot?" he began. A robbery of
diamonds had been committed: the po-
lice had a clew to the thief. He was
trying to get those diamonds to an ac-
complice-a mn ii was suspected,
from his antecedents-who could take
them to Holland to dispose of them.
The police had got on his track: a de-
| tective had succeeded in getting close
to him while he had Il packet of stones
on him"
II am so sorry that l have lost the
PARCEL" said Nora regretfully. What
is to eb done?"
You can help me catch the rogucs.
at least" remarked Maurice.
This is the scheme. pursued Maurice
eagerly. II propose TO insert an adver-
tisement to the effect that the young
lady who received the packet by mis-
take will return the same If the address;
| to which it should be returned is stated
In a letter to be sent to Miss Welsh at
some address on which we can decide
| some shop where you ran have letters
| sent on payment of Il small fee
1t occurred to Mrs. Smithers that Mr..
| Westmoir stayed longer than was alb
solutely necessary. but she said MOTH
ing. He came the next evening. and
that advertisement required a lot of
editing and altering. And the next two
evenings he came again. Mr.. West