The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1917-12-22
CHAPTER II-cont'nued.

~. there we're no other pas
~ within earshot, and the ports ports
n them, though alisht, were shu !.
~ au rrtL Betty Merrilees'"
old. .,o children saw
fmre warm-"s '''e
49,. ~ the lady cried in triumph
~ ,ben, Betty doesn't mean 10
y 3 beat the customs, she ,''u o ,ae
wolf. The row that man LoeD
\. licked up about smuggling mas
|,,d her so that she's made up hef
NJ n declare every blessed trinket.
/. - soc. Quoin, you're simply vast
i, your time trailing Betty Merr'-
o,o,r smiled vaguely at his finger
aNo I'm not" he contradicted.
n, Beggarstaff shifted suspicious
1 I've guessed wrons?'
m, once in q way. The truth IS,
!, care whether Mrs. Merrilees de-
,pds the government or not. rs
!, year since l left the secret
cice. / don't like the work-too
.a-and having learned all it could
81 me, quietly dropped out anu
hrued to my old field"
Private Investigation, eh?"
There's some fun in that" Quoin
with mild enthusiasm. "Odd
~ love 'em. They're generally
very odd-unexpected besides
Duoiu," the lady inquired with q
hnge Of tone, you remember the
hchim collection"
DO remember it," Quoin protest
/ with reproachful sincerity. Il
= | might hope ever to be repaid
j the sleep l lost on that case"
lou never got clue"
Never one. That was a mastery
H.
Has none Of the stuff ever turned
"
Oh, plenty Of It, here and there
xtly In Europe. In fact, I'm told
II Joachim has rcassembled most
tie collection; but it has cost him
re times his original outlay"
There are, Of course, pieces still
lsing"
oh, naturally"
Well, then" said the lady DELHI
,tely, II don't mind telling you that
es's one piece l distinctly remem-
Y, on board this ship-a magnificent
rdony1 cameo"
TrulyT
Would you care to see 1t? Then
pkr
Mrs. Beggarstaff Enclosed her left
nd. In its palm lay Miss Carterets
poch!
With wonder. exclamation.
loin bent forward 20 examine the
meo, while Mrs. Beggarstaif regard
with q triumphant smile his bent
ID 1t was something to have star
the greatest living detective,
Itch was precisely the distinction the
INVITED old woman accorded this
q.
Take 1t to the light and have q
ID look"
Thank yOu," said Quoin. rising in
nty and moving forward to the
nted companionway, where he lin
ed q long minute, intently inspect
the brooch with small magnify
glass.
unquestionably one Of the missing
ces, ne declared fatty, returning,
H. II I'm not mistaken, one of the
~ IN the collection. How did you
le Dy 1t, please?"
IFS the property Of the young per-
VINO shares my cabin; name, Lucy
teret- She's an American, about
MY, and has lived abroad all her
NOW she's going to New York to
her father. who-she Says-gnve
lnis on her fifteenth birthday"
Inc question is, Who is Carteret
~
III not psychic" Mrs. Beggarstaff
Vted. THE woods are full OF Car
- put l know none that this child
'nDies In any way. Besides, she
uenled every relationship I've sug-
ed 80 far"
Ds' we mustn't forget that, when
=. ms paternal Carteret will
'aoly prove to be a perfectly hon
who picked up the cameo
.a's IN some out-of-the-way shop,
! .,e Or abroad. I've often thought
the widespread distribution of
'oot might be taken as pretty good
'ence IN support Of something I've
- .ohtended was popular Chi
existence Of regular or
'.auoh OF social freebooters. You're
- ne added as Mrs. Beggarstafr
- anu sat up, preparatory to ris-
present owner Of this bauble