The herald., 1915-11-18

There surely must nave DeeH Sohlc
provocatiOn."
There was. Taylor smoked six of
his cigars"
six cigars oughtn't to disturb him
like that" said Oakley. Hes the soul
of generosity. Why, the ring he gave
Mary is absolutely priceless. It's an
heirloom In his family-a large ruby
set with four brilliants. Perfectly
stunning thing-you ought to see it,
Il have seen it"
What" Oakley cried. impossible!
He only gave it to Mary yesterday aft
ernOon."
AS a matter of fact" Freddy went
on calmly, Il believe | have it in my
waistcOat pocket right now"
What on earth are you talking
abOut2"
For answer Freddy took the ring
from his waistcOat pocket and tossed
it upon the desk blotter.
Large ruby and four diamonds" he
said, according to plans and specifica-
tons"
Oakley lay back in his chair and
gasped like landed trout.
Perhaps" he said at length, you'll
be good enough to explain this-this'-
by all means Freddy replied.
This morning when came in found
Taylor tossing small object in the air
and catching 1t again with such rapidi-
ty that 1t looked like lot Of cOlOred
balls issuing from n Roman candle. As
soon as he saw me he pOcketed 1t. My
curiosity being aroused, proceeded to
knuckle him"
"KnuCkle him?"
Precisely" Freddy went or. "a
schoOlbOy trick. Hurts like thunder.
Old TOrquemada knew his business,
| Oakley, for it wasn't five minutes be-
fore had it out Of my worthy young
friend, and there you see it,
How did Taylor get hold Of it, ask
ed Oakley.
more knuckling made him tell said
Freddy. He confessed that last night
he attended the Benvenuto Cellini cir
Gle, having made his peace with Gin
hOuliac. or course he noticed Mary
wearing the ring, and when she went
into the anterOOm To wash her hands
| and returned without it he concluded
that she must have left it on the lava
tory. That's precisely what she had
done, as he found out immediately-and
there you are. Lucky l came in just
when did"
And where is Taylor now?
I've fired him." said Freddy. I've
meant to do it every day for the past
three weeks, but I've always forgotten
about it until today"
why Oh earth didn't you have him
arrestedT'
whats the user Freddy yawned.
I'VE have the ring, and now let us go
and take it back to Mary"
".
The Oakleys dwelt in an English
basement residence on West End ave
! nue.. One glance at the white loaded
| fanlight of the colonial front door and
the curtained elegance of the upper
windows established the Oakley re-
spectability as firmly as did the family
Bible and the Social Register" be-
meath the big mahogany table in the
| library. 1t was to this chamber that
Freddy had been ushered by Oakley
on their arrival.
Light up while go and find Mary"
he said, and started for the door.
Hardly had he reached it, however,
when from the lower floor came cry,
half of rage, half of hysteria; which
at once halted Oakley and brought
Freddy to his feet.
Now, what in the world is thatT
Oakley calculated.
Another wall arose, and then follow
ed the words:
You lost Get, you lost eet"
"Ginhouliac!" Freddy whispered.
Hes got 'em badr'
"Ah, no, no, no, no. re-echoed
through the house.
by George, he has Duse and Bern
hardt simply skinned to deathw Fred
dy chuckled.
"Give me the ring, Freddy" Oakley
said. 81 think I'll go downstairs and
kick him out"
Mingled with Mary's soothing con-
tralto and Ginhouliac's shrill hysteria
came an expostulatory growl.
"Confound 1t, sir, you're behaving
like fool!' it said.
| 1.-The governor Oakley exclaimed.
when l was a kid he always said
'Confound it, SIR just before he whal-
ed the life out Of me. Exertions bad
for him, too. l guess I'll go down.
He took the stairs four at a Jump,
while Freddy went back to the library
| and closed the door behind him. For
ten minutes the muffled sound Of voices
came In faint waves from the ground
floor, until decisive bang Of the front
door brought the conference to close
Freddy had been standing by the H.
brary window, gazing idly into the
street, and he saw Ginhouliac leave the
house. For one brief moment the en-
ragged Italian stood muttering on the
curb. Between his thumb and finger
he held the ring, which glittered and
flashed in the afternoon sunlight: then.
raising his hand above his head. he
| flung 1t far into the roadway.