Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-06-26

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= thought heard the name OF ono
|of Jour friends, No matter: let US
return to business. Shall we say 10O.-
900 francs %
De Sartines rose to his feet. paced
the room, pulled down his waistcoat
and suddenly turned to his visitor:
Did you speak, madame %
Shall we say 100000 francs? That
is the exact worth OF my Jewels
De Sartines laughed. The nobleman
suddenly vanished and the minister of
police appeared.
"A hundred thousand devils! have
caught you. madame! Not a word OF
our conversation has been lost All
has been recorded by my secretary.
German, who sits in the adjoining
room. and who. at my direction, has
listened while led you into your own
trap So you would rob me! Germain!
Ho there, Germain!' y
The door opened, and German. pen
In hand appeared.
You have heard our conversation,
Germatn?" asked De Sartines, with a
slight grimace that was quite lost on
the secretary.
No, monsieur
The baroness broke into a joyous
little laugh and De Sartines. sup
pressing his anger with Tremendous
effort, waved Germain from the room
AS he turned again to the baroness.
the face of this extraordinary man had
completely changed. He was laugh
ing now as If tickled by the Joke
against himself
Mordieu!" thought the baroness,
what an actor! Let us beware!" Then
to De Sartines, We'll, monsieur--and
my Jewels ?"
Upon my word. madame" said De
wit tn Ino
creased the stupidity of my servants.
Tis enough to make one call a truce.
The difficulty between us has been
that we have not been quite frank one
to the other. have we? / admit 1t on
my part. Now, will show my mind to
you"
The baroness laughed Heaven help
me to meet the sight" murmured she,
casting her eyes up to the ceiling.
y will show you my heart"
Oh, monsieur cried the baroness,
still laughing, ut is useless, for have
i will do, madame. foc your wit ard
beauty what l would not do for
money!
%; monsieur. beware Of promising
Il will explain to you this affair.
First of all, I admit that the police
have visited your house."
"Germain!" cried the baroness. 'Ho
there, Germain! Are you listening pr
De Sartines held up his hand
Information reached the police that
a thief wac in your house. They went
there in search of him; they arrived
to late"
why did you not tell me this at
once" asked she, more to gage De
Sartines' capacity for lying than for
any other reason.
!, Because. madame. It is rule at
nYpr0 o1 nf f<>c
the work of the office. Had you been
able to assist US, you would have been
apprised of the affair And that re-
minds me; now that you are here and
have given this information, must
ask you for an exact list Of all these
jewels you say you have lost.
He watcher her n rrowly as he salf7
this, but her face did not alter in t
least.
With pleasure. monsieur; take
seat and pen and l will dictate"
De Sartines, amazed at her aplon
and GOODNESS. took his seat at h..
desk and pen.
"A necklace of Al diamonds. set in
two rows of 90 each, each diamond
divided from its fellows by double
chain of gold; the hasp formed of a
single diamond set in heavy gold
and with my initials, s. L., on the
IgolG;; value at the very least, 10000
frances
Forty thousand francs" muir
INJURED De Sartines. completing the
sentence Yes, madame; proceed"
She did; rings, bracelets brooches.
she described all with such minutiae
that the unfortunate De Sartines,
whom she had turned into scrivener
more hardly driven than those Of the
palace of justice, began to ask him.
self If, after all, her tale might not
be true. But only for second-there
was mirth In her voice, laughter
scarcely disguised It was no part Of
her plan, seemingly, to delude her
enemy whom she was keeping busily
employed with the tale of her ficti-
tious jewels.
The avarfciousness Of De Sartines
was well known.
Well. madame" said De Sartines
az he finished writing, that Is ALL and
the total amounts to 100000 francs"
II will forego the 10000 francs" re-
Piled she; and now, monsieur, thar
we have set the account between us
on q definite footing. may ask you
party that visited my house this aft
ernoon 2"
Il. madame! /, Count de sarttnes.
seeking for thieves In person! Ma
dame, do you know to whom you are
|speaking?''
Yes, monsieur, to the owner Of this
handkerchief She took the hand
kerchief from her pocket and held it
toward him.
De sartines clapped his hand to
his pocket.
Continued Next Week)
\ 1890
a DAILY OCCUPATIONS .