The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1917-11-02
CHAPTER xIil.-continued.

prompt protest Wnen you toiu HE "
take the necklace into the sunlight ana
satisfy myself" "~',
eyes" Peter admitted gloomily.
els the evidence complete enough"
Mrs. Beggarstaff questioned gently.
1--WE didn't want to tell you this, Betty.
For my own part, I'd rather you had
conspired with Tad to smuggle- .
DON'T" pleaded the unhappy wom-
an. Bending forward, elbows on knees
she stared somberly at the carpet. but
how" she asked after a moment, 10
you account for that perfect counter
feit?"
simply" Quoin replied, latter that
affair of Thursday night, on my own
responsibility l sent wireless to Paris
to COttier's in Bettys name. The an
swer came through Friday night, say
ing that the original owner had sold
paste duplicate to q dealer In articles
de Paris which he In turn had sold TO
a chance customer-definite descrip-
ton unavailable-the same day that
the real necklace was taken from Cot
tiers by your agent"
ut seems incredible. OF all men
Tad Craven!"
"You forget how little we know of
him." the Dowager Dragon put In.
"Know of him." Betty protested,
looking up. why, everybody knows
Tad Craven Go out among our friends
and try to find one who believes he
\ Aich
"And still, insist, you forget how
little we know Of him. Hank back into
your memory, my dear. How long have
we known him? Twelve or fifteen years
at most How did he come to know
us? Through introductions to few
clubs, Endorsed by Lord Esesden-who
was later drHmlned out of town for
card cheating, and never came back.
But Tad Craven stuck. He didn't cheat,
and he was amusing, and as long as he
was persOnable, agreeable and seemed
to have money nobody bothered about
his pedigree"
give been looking Craven up," Quoin |
supplemented. Listen" He began to |
read from tiny memorandum book:
Game to New York in '93 with Brit
ish musical comedy company. His wife, |
Lefty Craven, fell Ill during the run OF
the piece and died in public hospital
of quick consumption. After that Cra-
ven got a job with some show which
persisted on the road. When he turned
up again he was training with gang
of professional sharpers with whom he
played few turns on the transatlantic
ferry route as capper. But he dropped
that before he became known to the
police. Later he was running with a
gay Lord EveSden but shook him as
soon as he felt solid In New York and
those ugly whispers began to go round
about Evesden's play. The rest Is
mainly circumstantial damnation."
Quoin put away his notebook and be-
gan to tick off his points on his fingers
'"It may not have escaped you that
there've been some pretty stiff burglar
les among our friends In the last twelve I
years or so. They weren't frequent: {
but they were all big hauIs, and every |
one was we'll planned and eliminated s
In clean getaway. And it so happens,
when one comes to look into it, that I
Craven was especially thick with all | {
the people victimized, The biggest coup {
was the theft of the. Joachim collec- s
ton, worth several hundred thousand /
dollars. Now Lydia Craven, when she @
came aboard the Alsatia, was wearing
! cameo from the Joachim collection t
which she said her father had given G
her on her fifteenth birthday. Discreet
on the part of Mrs. Beggar- @
'tnff has shown that date to have fallen Il
lust three months after Joachim was O
'obbed. Incidentally, the cameo disap- t
)eared rs soon as Lydia and Craven e
net on board. There's a sinister thread ii
all through the history of h
rhaddeus Craven" IL
HIS voice trailed OFF into silence. u
FRS MerriIees was eying him steadily. L
you never got all that information t,
ogether since mOrning?" Mrs. Beggar-
taft prompted. n
"No," QuOin admitted. 1--WE had s.
ny eye on Craven for some time" o
"Why1" the old woman demanded Il
luntly. what made you first suspect II
inf" Il
well" replied Quoin, he never a
lng true to me; and when it began to p
e rumored that he was a candidate
DR. Betty's 'hand-I felt sure he wasn't 81
-orthy Of her. and made up my mind tC
D be sure before forbidding the
anns." h
After n paure Betty looked up den- B