The Washington herald., 1914-01-11

opened by q man IN q gray UNIFORM, o.
viousiy the night watchman-
.HeiIo Timr' said the one.
Hello, Bud," said the other.
"Doorman gomez"
Bout an hour ago."
Then ensued a moment of silence
Burnside say anything was turned
| ing'
Didn't hear of it, was the watch
..My friend here thinks he's left some
thing in a box. Could you let US
| through?
Sure" was the easy response. 'TH
throw on the house lights for youse-
Watch your wsyf
He preceded us through maze ot
painted canvas and what looked like the
backs OF gigantic picture frames. He
| stepped aside for moment TO turn on
switch. Then he opened a narrow door
| covered with sheet iron, and we found
ourselves facing the box entrance.
Ny companion motioned me into the
| second box while ne stepped briskly into
\ that Eearer the footlights.
Now. the young lady sat there" n
said, placing the gilt chair back against
| the brass railing. Then he sat down In
IT. facing the stage. Having done 90, he
i took of his hst and placed in on the box
floor. Now you show me where that
man sat"
covered parapet and dropped into it.
Here" / explained. within two feet
Of where you are
'An right" was his sudden and quite
unexpected rejoinder. That's enough:
That'n do"'
He reached down and groped about for
his hat before rising from the chair.
He brushed it with the sleeve Of his
coat. absently, and then stepped out of
the box.
Wed better be getting back he
called to me from the sheet-iron covered
doorway.
Back to what?'' / demanded, as I
followed him out through the canvas
lined maze again. feeling that he was in
some way stricking me, resenting the
| foolish mystery which he was singing
! about the whole foolish maneuver-
! Back TO those guests of yours and
some good old-fashioned common sense.
| was his retort.
But during the ride back to Sherry
Ihe had nothing further to say to me. His
| answers to the questions i put TO him
| were either evasfve or monosyllabic. He
| even yawned. yawned openly and audi
| bly,. as he drew up at the carriage en-
| trance OF that munifcently lighted hos
| telry.
Now I can give you people Just two
| minutes" he said, as the five Ss is wer-
once more seated at the same table and
| he once more consulted mis- turnip OF
| watch And / guess that's NOR en- we'll
| need"
| He turned to the wan and tired-eyed
girl, who. only too plainly. had not al
| together enjoyed her wait
| You've got the necklace? he asked
She held up a hand from which the
string of graduated pearls dangled- The
man then turned TO me.
| You took this string of pearls awav
/ from this man. he asked, with quick
| nod toward the jewel thief
| Il assuredIy did" was my answer.
knowing ne had taken them from
this young lady earlier in the evening"
1 Your assumption bears every mark
/ Of genius 1 assured him.
He turned back to the girl
rs that your necklace%' he curtly de-
manded.
| The girl looked at me. with clouded
| and troubled eyes. We all felt. N some
foolish way. that the moment was
climatic one.
| NO" she answered, IN little more than
a whisper.
| You're positive?"
She nodded her head without speaking.
/ The man turned to me.
yet you followed this man. assaulted
him and forcibIy took that necklace
| away from him?'
| Hold on" I cried. angered by that
calmly pedagogic manner Of his Il
\ want you to un-
He stopped me with a sharp move of
his hand.
/ Don't go over all that" he said. Its
! a waste of time. The point is. that neck
lace is not your friends. But I'm going
| to tell you what it is It's a duplicate
of it, stone for stone. The lady, think.
will agree with me on that Am I
right?''
! The grid nodded.
| Then what the devil is this man doing
with it?' demanded Benny Churchill, be-
| fore any of us could speak
"S'pose you wait and find out who
| this man isr'
1 We'll, who Is he?'' inquired, resolved
that no hand, however artful. was going
\ to pull the wool over my eyes
| This man. said my imperturbed and
blg-shouldered friend, rs the pearl
hatcher for Cohen & Greenhut, the
Maiden Lane importers. Wait, don't in
\ tsrrlrr,t me- Miss Churchilfs necklace. 1
/ understand. was one of the finest in this
town. His house had an order to dupli-
| cate IL. He took the first chance, when
/ the pearls had been matched and strung
to see that he'd done ms Joc TgnI
| And you mean to tell me, l cried
that he hung over a box rail and lifted
p string of pearls from lady's neck
| just to
Hold there, my friend" cut in the big
| Iimbe6 man. HE found this lady was
going to be in that box and wearin' that
| necklace.
"And having reviewed its chaste
beauty. he sneaked out of his own box
and ran like a chased curl!
| Hold your horses, now! Can't You see
that he thought you were the crook? Il
Won had a bunch of stones like that on
v,,u and a stranger butted in and started
trailin' YOU, wouldn't you do your best
10 melt away when you had the
cbance?'' demanded the officer. Then he
looked at me again with his wearily up
lifted eyebrows. "Oh, I guess you wers
all right as far as you went, but. like
most amateurs, you didn't go quite far
enough,'
L, saw the girl across the table from
me push the necklace away from her.
and leave it lying there in a giimmering
heap upon the white table. promptly
and quietly reached out and took pos
session of it, for j still had my own
ideas of the situation,
That's all very WE'LL ! cried. "and
very interesting. But what L want to-.
know is: Who got the first necklace%
The big-framed man looked once more
at his watch. Then he looked little
wearily at me.
Il got 'em,' he said.
You've got them?" echoed both the
girl and her brother. 1t was plain that
the inconsequentialities OF the last hour
had been a little too much for them.
-. lrWasW tn