Charlevoix county herald., 1914-02-21
THE
GREAT HESPER
BY FRANK BARRETT

rear. Looking up the road, ! saw the
/ finger post at the crossroads; looking
down. ! saw that which took my
breath away with amaZement-Brace
was trudging along the road toward
! the Abbey, with Van Hoeck holding
his arm on one side, and Lola his hand
upon the Other-an incOmprehensible
picture of unity, friendly assistance,
and reliance.
1t was true that without assistance
Van HOeck could not have found his
way along the road, and very posi-
! bic that, without the restraint of her
/ fathers hand, Lola would not have
walked by ms side; but all doubt as to
the existence of friendly understand
ing between the two men was dis
! PEELED from my mind by what fol-
! lowed,
Arrived opposite the bride oath
! leading up INTO the wood they stop
pd, anC consultation ensued be-
! tween the two men. ] could not hear
their voices at that distance. but ]
saw 10y their gesticulations that they
We're discussing some point; II ended
! by hrace gong 10 the side of the road,
| and cranmg ms mex 10 see If anyone
were In sight. ! crouched down be
side the thlcket which partly con
cealed me.
When ! cautiously raised my head
! and looked again, Brace, still stand
ING opposite the birdie way, was
| drawing his arm out Of the sandy
/ hanK that there Skirted the road
| ducked my head, as once more
/ he peered TO the right and left. They
/ We're gone, all three, when ! looked
\ again.
when ! thought il safe to venture, /
went 10 the spot where Brace had
stood There was a rabbIt-hole in the
sandy cutting, partly hidden by the
| training growth from the Ovcrhang.
/ imp edge J took on my coat, turned
back my sleeve, thrust I'm my arm, and
drew out.-thc leather case in which
the diamond had been taken from my
wrist Il was empty.
] again thrust my arm in and OK
ploreC the hoie, thinhing-though
IT was little lkely-that the diamond
/ had slipped out of the case or been put
IN separately. Ii was a kind of cul-
de-sac-tho earth had fallen in from
, above and blocked the passage at less
than the length of my arm from the
entrance; but ! did not give up the
/ search until ! was absolutely certain
/ that the Great Hesper was not there.
| 1t was not probable they would place
/ the diamond i'm such an open place
! the leather case was different 1t was
unsafe 20 keep that, but il was Of lit
| tie consequence where they abandoned
it. But why had they taken the dia-
mOnd from the case. and what had
/ they done with il?
A clue to this mystery also ! dis
covered before long.
When ] got back to the Abbey,
! Brace, Van Hoeck, and Lola, were in
! the library with the police officer
| Sir Edmund, Mr.. Wra-his lawyer
and couple of friends, justices of the
! peace, who had been brought by the
rUmor- which were already widely
spread
Lola was still under examination.
/ She was stUbbOrniy silent. II was
with the greatest difficulty that any
response 20 the question put could
be drawn from her. But she adj
mittoG seeing the man drop from the
oriel; and asked if it was one OF the
the servants, She replied firmly, NO"
But more than this could not pet got
out OF hey on this point
TO the inquiry how she had dis
covered the means of getting fron
the bay into the oriel. for il was py
that way she had come to my assist
auce, she replied that she had
seen j. done before but she would
not say whom she had seen
The uoice-ofticer asked me 10 go
into the adjoining dining-room with
him
MAY ] ask" he SAID, IF YOU have
any reason 10 suspect that you have
beer robbed by your friends-your
partner ,u the diamond? because
they profess to have been in the
woods al. the morning whereas
have good cause TO believe that they
have beer In the town Of Southamp-
ton part Of the time
Ar, you sure Of that -
81 viii take my oath that | saw the
little savage in the red petticoat in the
High Street as started 30 come
here