Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-21
THE VAURIGARD
- DIAMOND =
Bv HORACE HAZELTINE

you alarm me-" he cried. Am
liable, then, to get into trouble owe
this little matter? Would the fairie
approve of my giving the slipper bacl
to you?"
| "Oh, / am sure they would. Other
wise my fairy godmother wouldn'
have given me your name and ad
dress"
And did she do that?"
ITO be sure. How else do you sup
pose l should ever have learned whC
had the slipper"
Il never thought of that" he fooled
"Win you come here after it? Or dC
you wish me to bring it to you?"
Probably We had better meet eacf
other half way" she suggested.
Capital! You shall lunch with m'
tomorrow, at the Plaza, and I'll hand
you the slipper between courses"
You're a DEAR" was the apprecia'
tive rejoinder. And the time?"
will 2 o'clock be agreeable?"
1T will be delightful"
And how shall recognize you?" he
asked. will you wear blue rose ir
your hat, or" But only a deafenina
buzzing answered him. He waited 6
moment, hoping it would cease; and
then he called: "Hello!" and repeated
it. He repeated it again and again and
again, and played lively tattoo with
the hook Of the instrument; but the
only answer was from the clerk in the
office, downstairs, who said that his
l'"party" had rung off.
The incident annoyed him more thar
it perplexed him. 1t was all very mys-
terious, to be sure; but he felt that, In
spite of woman's seeming gayety, the
| adventure held an element Of the un-
pleasant. Throughout it all he ha6
been at a disadvantage. Clearly enough
she knew him; but he was utterly al
loss to conceive her identity. More
over, the whole conversation, pitched as
it had been, in the key of the fanciful
rang false, and, 1t seemed to him, sim
lister.
He took up the slipper again, ant
held it, almost carelessly. For the life
of him, he could not have explained the
feeling that swept over him. He only
knew that, for some strange reason
the voice and the slipper did not fit
In his eagerness to delve to the core
of the mystifying problem-to test 1t
bitter or sweet-Gramercy Van Braun
slim, sinewy, rarely regular and pleas
ing of feature, and inconspicuously
we'll dressed, anticipated his appoint
ment by all of fifteen minutes He. had
however, taken the precaution Of Sc.
curing a table by telephone; for which
discovering the restaurants overflow
ing, and every chair in the adjacent
passages occupied by more or les:
impatiently waiting luncher, he now
congratulated himself.
Since his role was to he that of the
discovered rather than of the discov.
er, he bought an early edition Of one Of
the evening papers. at the news
stand, and then flung himself down or
one of the most conspicuously placed
of the upholstered benches, to await
the coming Of the puzzling, If no
wholly attractive, Cinderella. And, a:
if magnetized for his eyes attraction, 6
small advertisement, under the LOS
and Found" heading, sprang out before
the Haunting news headlines, and crap.
pied his attention. What he read was
this:
lost.-Last night, somewhere be-
tween Sherry's and the Ritz Carlton
| a white satin slipper, pearl -embroid
cred. Finder returning same to 9th
er than x Y z, Hotel Plaza, will bt
| prosecuted.
Van Braun read it through twice
and then, lowering the paper to his lap
sat thoughtfully staring at nothing
while the mystery deepened. How wa:
it possible, he asked himself, to recon
cile Cinderella's plea and this some
what cryptic warning of * Y u"
Could they, by any possibility, be ont
and the same? Or was 1t that eacl
was endeavoring to secure possession
of that which belonged only to one
And in either event, what was ther'
about a slipper, extraordinary in Meth
er material nor making, to excite 81
much covetous regard?
| He was still immersed in the grow
ing intricacies of the problem. when {
hand laid lightly on his arm arrested
him; and he turned abruptly to see
sitting on the bench beside him, /:
fairly handsome, dark, and rathe
smarty dressed young woman. wh'
greeted him with smiling recognition
you'll excuse me, won't you, Mr.
Van Braun?" she took for granted
Don't you remember me? I reall!
believe you don't. I'm Miss William
| Off,
But Van Braun had by this recov
cred himself, and he fastened to in
terrupt her. with: "Of course I re
member you. You're the young lad.
from one of the newspapers, that
used to meet at my friends weddings
when I played the part Of usher
And 1 used to see you at the opera
too; and at the horse show, and a
dances; and you were always askin
me questions that, had they been ask
ed by anyone else, would have seeme'
rudely impertinent."
The girl laughed at this, and tn
young mans interest suddenly quick
ened.
And you always answered m
questions very fully and enlightenlng
ly," she told him.
Yes" he said, with a smile; ''ye
not always truthfully. 1 fear, sine
sometimes 1 didn't know. and at 9th
er times | doubted your right to ask
or mine to tell"
She laughed again. and he smile
with satisfaction.
I'm going to ask you a questio
now" she announced.
"If it weren't that you are so muc
prettier and not a bit round-shoul
dered. I'd call you a human interro