The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-18

| tiiS uoOi dnu "Cul out
No ono spoke word. All waited
! anxiously, as though convinced that
a particle of the truth was about to
appear. And the silence was marked
by an extreme gravity.
AT last the count was seen stand
ing in the doorway. He was pale,
and singularly agitated. He address
ed his friends in a voice trembling
with emotion:
Il beg your pardon. Monsieur
| FlorIani's revelations have taken me
so greatly by surprise. | should
never have thought"
His wife asked him, eagerly:
What is it? Tell us, Speak!
He stammercd out:
The cleft is there at the very
place mcntioncd-down the side OF
the pane"
Abruptly Selling the chcvalicr's
arm, he said. IN an impcrious tone:
And now, monsieur. continue.
admit that you have been right so
far. but now--That is not ali. Tell
Inc what happened, according to
YOU"
Eloriani gently released his arm,
well, according to me, this is
what happened: The individual.
whoever he was, knowing that Nine.
de Drcux was going to wear the
necklace at the reception. put his
footbridgc in position during your
absence. He watched YOU through
the window and say you hide the dia-
monds. As soon As you were gone
he passed some implement down the
pane and pulled the ring"
Very well: but tho distance was
too great to allow OF his reaching
the latch OF the window through the
hinged pane"
IF he was unable to open the win
dow he must have got in through the
hinged pane itself"
impossible; there is not a man so
slight IN figure as to obtain admis-
sion that way"
Then 1t Wis not man."
What do you mean"
What | say. If the passage was
too narrow, to admit man, then it
must have been child"
"A child"
Did you not tell nc that your
friend had SOM"
Il did; son called RaouI."
1T Is extremely likely that Raoul
committed the theft"
What evidence have YOU"
What evidence? There is no lack
OF evidence. For instance" He was
silent, and reflected for a few sec
onds. Then he continued: For in
stance. it is incredible that the child |
could have brought footbridgc from |
the outside and taken it away again |
unpcrcervcd. He must have employ
ed what lay ready to hand. In the |
little room where Hcnricttc did her
COO king were there not some shelves
against the wall on which she kept
her pots and pans?"
There were two shelves, as far as
| remember"
1--WE must find out If these shelves
were really fixed to the wooden
brackets that supported them. If so,
we are entitled TO believe that the
child unscrewed them and then fast
ented them together. Perhaps. also,
1t there was 4 range, we shall dis
cover a stove hook or plate litter
which he would have employed to
open the hinged pane"
The count went on without a word.
and this time the others did not even
feel that little touch of anxiety at
tendant upon the unknown which
they had experienced on the first oc-
casion. They knew, they knew abso-
lutely, that Floriani's views were
correct. And no one felt surprised
when the count returned and said:
YES, it's the child-thcrc's no
doubt about it. Everything proves
it."
-, Did you sec the shelves-thc plate
But Nine. de Dreux-Soubise cx-
claimed:
1.-THE child! You mean his mother.
Henriette is the only guilty person.
She must have compelled her son
TO-
NO" said the chcvalicr. "the
mother had nothing to do with it."
Come, GOMEZ They lived in the
same room. The child cannot have
acted unknown to Henriette."
They occupied the same room; but
everything happened in the adjoining
recess, at night, while the mother
was asleep"
And what about the necklacc??"
said the count. at would have been
found among the child's things"
Il beg your pardon. He used to
60 out The very morning when
YOU found him with his book he had
come back from school, and perhaps
he police. instead OF. exhausting
heir resources against the innocent
mother, would have been better ad-
used to make search there. in his
ic>k. among his lesson books" {
VERY well. But the two thousand
rancs which Hcnriettc received cv- /
Try years. not that the best sign {
IF her completely"
"W ould she have written to thank :
you for the money it she had been I
IN accomplicc? Besides. was she not ;
sept under supervision Whereas I
he child was free, and had every ia
:ility for going to the nearest town. d
,ecing a dealer, and selling him a
liamond cheaply, or two diamonds.
Is the case demanded. the only con-
lition being that the money should I
&c sent from Paris. in consideration I
IF which the transaction would be Z
cpcatcd next year
The cux-SoubiscS and their t
.ucsts were oppressed by an undo v
Unable sense OF uncasineSS. There Il
vas really in Floriani's tone and at q
itude something more than that Ger O
ainty which had so greatly irritatcd
he count from the beginning. There 5
vas sonnet hino resembling irony-au =,