The Washington herald., 1914-11-29
BY
T. w. Hanshew


ute later. a broad, short fight Of richly
carpeted stairs which led to q square
landing. and thence another and long
er flight, striking on at right angles,
communicated with the passage upon
which her Iadyship's boudoIr opened:
TT was here that stood. Mr.. Cleek.
when recoilected about the necklace
and called Jennifer to me" she said.
pausing on the landing. Now. come
this way, please, and you win see how
impossible II Is for any one to have en-
tered and left the boudoir during my
brief absence without my seeing"
II was For the door OF the boudofr-
which was entirely detached from the
rest Of the suite occupied by herself and
her husband-Was Immediately opposite
the head Of the staircase and clearly
visible from the landing
She unlocked this-the only one the
room poSsessed-end let them see that
the only other means Of possibly entering
was By way Of q large bay window. but
that was a good twenty feet from the
ground and there was neither q cee
nor q vine within yards and yards Of H.
On her dressing table Eay the open care
which had contained the necklace with
a litter OF silver toilet articles aboGt
Il: over the back Of the chair hung q
negligee Of white silk with cascades az
white lace
Everything is exactly as Il was. Nr.
CIeek, at the moment the necklace DIS
appeared" she explained as they stepped
in and closed the door behind them
Everything except that negiigee. that
Is That. OF course. was not on the
chair then; It was on me hr. Geek.
Mr.. Cleek, Good heavens, MaEson, has
the man gone mad
For. OF a sudden, CIeek. who while
she was speaking had lifted the negii-
gee to see II there was anything On
the chair-seat beneath, yapped out q
sound that was curiousiy like the bark
OF a dog that had learned the trek
Of human laughter. then 1ung the neg
ligee from him and with his nose 70 the
ground was careering around the room
like L terrier. throwing over chairs.
pushing aside tables and holding one
shut hand up close to bis chest while
the other excitedly flung the furniture
about
''CIeek! Old chap. Good Iud. man. what
on earth"
Let me alone, let ME sIone-'' he
raped out frritably. "Of al the asses,
OF all the blind. mutton-headed IDIOTS
Then laughed that curious. uncanny
laugh again and made a headIong bolt
for the door. wait for me-aH OF you
In the music room. Don't stir from it
until come. want that man Jennife-."
And here. jerking the door wide open.
he bolted downstairs.
1t was full twenty minutes later AMI
Sir Mawson and Lady Leake and Mr..
Maverick Narkom were pacing up and
down the floor and enduring positive
aEonies OF suspense. when the door of
the music room flashed open and flashed
shut again and he stood before them once
more-quite alone but with that curious.
crooked smile looping one corner Of his
mouth.
''CIeek. dear old chapr'-the superfn-
tendent's voice was sharp and thin with
excitement-"You-you have found OUT
something. them"
II hope. Mr.. Narkom, I have found olc
everything" he answered; and then.
stepping to the center of the room. threw
back his head and moved slowly round
with his eyes turned up toward the cell
ing. But Of a sudden he gave L little
laugh and looked down.
Il have had" he said. "a nice little
talk with Jennifer and a very satisfaC-
tory visit TO the pirates cave. No, your
ladyship. I didn't find it in the cave.
for the simple reason that it never wus
there and that neither BeVis nor Jenni-
Ter has the least idea where IL is. Hap
PLY do. however: and if, in return 70"
it. Sir Mawson will promise ME to take
back that boy Henry and give him al
other chance he shall E"ve it in his
hands ten seconds aft"- Is"
I promise, With all Unur, I do
almost shouted Sir Maw>on.
Right you are" said Clcck in reply:
then twitchCd forward a chair, stepped
on the seat of it, reached upward int"
the midst Of the chandeliers glitteriu-
cutglass lusters. twitched out somethiu-:
from their midst and added. There you
arc. them Is he dropped the Ladder Of
Light into SIR Mawson's hands.
Up in the chandelier exclaimed Lad
Leake. "Oh, Mr.. Cleck. who put f.:
there. and why
''Jennifer." he made answer. No. net
for any evil purpose. your ladyshiu.
While he was cleaning those lUStcTS ~
the hallway yesterday afternoon At
o'clock your son Beyis paid him a visit.
and whe~ he came to replace the Ius;crs
on the chandelier one string was miss
ing. 7 knowed the precious little scamp
had took it, was I way he spoke Of
the matter. and that I'd be sure TO find
It in his pirates cave. But he hadn't.
as it proved. for when her l; lyship call
ed me up to the landing and gave ne
the lint and then ran back upstairs l
looks down. and there was the lUstor
a-layin' on the Iandin' just where sh"
had stood"
"on the landing: Lying on the land
ing. do you say. Mr.. CIeek: But heavens
above. how in the world could the neck
lace have Lot there? Nobody could
possibly have entered the boudoir aftC-
l left it-and in that brief space of time.
To be sure" he made reply. And
1t was the absolute certainty of that
fact which forced the key to the riddr
upon me. Since it WAS only possible FOR
ono person to have entered and left
the room. then beyond all question thai
person must be the one Who carried
the necklace out Therefore. there was
hut one conclusion-that when YOU left
the room the Ladder OF Light left !.
with YOU, and So Gently, gently. your
II you will examine the neck
lace closely, Sir Mawson. you will see
that it has not come through this ad-
venture uninjured. One Of the two Soc
tions of its clasp is missing and the
wire link which once secured the dia-
monds to that section of the clasp has
parted in the middle. You might know
that when I lifted LADY Leake's neg
ligee from that chair a while ago 7 found
this clinEing to the lace Of the right
sleeve. Pardon? Yes. tho missing part
Of the clasp. your ladvship. ! think there
can hardly be a doubt that when you
reached over your sleeve caught on the
clasp OF the necklace. became cntanClrd.
and when you hurried out of the room.
you carried the Ladder Of Light with
you. Then without doubt when you lean
ed over the banister to call down TO
Jennifer. the weak link snapped and the
necklace dropped away and the thick
carpet muffied entirely the sound OF its
fall. As for the rest The front door