The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-07-11

had IT., but Treusdail, at my sugges
ton. would not permit any one to leave
the place without being searched, the
ordeal IL they were obliged to leave
before the gem was found.
I held long deliberations with Miss
Sweet. who was now profoundly In.
terested In the case. These delibera
lions, besides giving us something in
common, enabled me to be good deal
with her. hoped. if madesany fur
Their progress, to lead my assistant to
think that it was her ingenuity or
perceptive faculty that was doing the
work and not mine.
II have made a discovery" said
Miss Sweet to me one day, with great
glee.
You don't mean it," l replied.
Have you found where the gem is
concealed?"
"No. l have discovered that Mrs.
Jernegan's nursemaid shares her Sc
cret with her"
How so!''
, They know that we are watching
them. Whenever the nurse sees me
looking at her she quails''
ITS two against two isn't it?"
Yes, and we'll beat them yet"
"No doubt Of it,
Have you anything to suggest"
We'll, no; not just now"
We saw the nurse go out with her
charge and knew that every afternoon
she took the child to little park In
the neighborhood. Treusdail should
that 1t wouldn't do to keep the little
girl in the house. l proposed to Miss
Sweet that we walk out, follow the
nurse to the park and see If we could
learn anything. She consented, and.
getting her hat and wraps, we sailed
forth.
We soon saw the nurse walking
slowly, the child trotting alone, either
beside or behind her, carrying a toy
balloon. We measured our pace to
suit theirs, and they entered the park
without knowing that we were near
them. A moment later the nurse turn
ed and, suddenly seeing us, gave an
involuntary start.
1.-THE plot thickens" | remarked to
my companion. "I'll bet that this
nurse, being permitted to leave the
house, will get rid of the diamond"
Suppose she has 1t with her now?'
said Miss Sweet.
Its possible"
Il have never seen her 80 agitated
as when she turned and saw us be-
hind her"
"YOu are on the track You made
the discovery that she was in league
with her mistress. Suppose we let her
see by our acts and the expressions Of
our faces that we are watching her
1t may drive her into doing something
that will expose her."
BY this time the nurse had taken a
seat on a bench, while the child played
about with her balloon. On several oc-
casions she let go the string. the bal
loon rose, and the nurse caught i only
, In time to save it. We walked 6y the
! woman and as we did so stared at her
ominously. She trembled like a leaf
We walked on short distance and
turned. The childs balloon had es-
capped and was caught In the branches
Of tree overhanging the seat where
the nurse sat. The child was crying
for her toy. and the. nurse was trying
to quiet her.
IN buy you another, dearie," she
said That one has gone where one
cant get it
The nurse spoke the truth Only a
long ladder would enable any one to
reach the toy. 1t had lodged some
thirty feet from the ground As
walked past the tree l looked up at 1t.
l noticed that the string attached to it
hung straight. l suggested nothing at
first, but presently l asked my com
panion:
DO you notice how straight that
string hangs? sit caught on branch.
and does the balloon keep it tautT"
NO; the balloon is against bough.
But there Is something-yery small
tied to the end Of the string"
so there is
| glanced at the nurse, who knew
we were talking about the balloon. and
/ saw she was holding her breath from
suspense. l called some boys who
were playing near and offered any of
them a quarter who would climb the
tree and bring down the balloon. One
Of the boys took my offer and in
few minutes was in possession of the
toy. At the end Of the string was
/ bit Of tissue paper. In the paper was
the diamond
l looked around for the nurse. She
had vanished.
The delight both OF myself and Miss
Sweet may be imagined. We started
to the house with the little girl Far
down the street we saw the nurse run
: ming ahead of us. 1t did not occur to
us what she was going to the house for
till We got there, when we discovered
that she had warned her mistress and
p.T1