The Monticellonian., 1917-01-25

Miss Blythe my wife began to miss
valuabes of hers Rings seemed to
be the young womans penchant An
opal, diamond and sapphire, and a
magnificent emerald in a fifteenth
century setting disappeared successive.
ly. We changed our servants without
result. At last, by force of con.
stantly dwindling number of hypoth-
eses, the suspicion came to rest upon
Miss Blythe's shoulders.
However, as Mrs. Tarrant locked
away her valuables, nothing more was
taken, and We should probably have
kept the young woman in our employ
ment but for what happened. The gov
erness was a great student of antiqui-
ties; in fact, she had knowledge of
Hittite and Babylonian archaeology
which astonished me and was a pri-
mary factor in the securing of her posi-
4 ton. She had half days leave every
week, and invariably spent it at the
museum. She became a well-known
figure there. for she always haunted
the Assyrian room, in which, as you
may know, are number of engraved
gems, of immeasurable value, brought
from Babylonia by the expedition
which | sent there for the purpose of
eXcavating the mounds of Nineveh.
Some ten days ago the Waterman, who
had somehow become suspicious of the
young woman, discovered her with the
half of sacred amulet in her hand
! ring supposed to have been worn by
the high priest of Marduk. AS you may
! know, that half amulet is one of the
most cherished possessions of the As.
syrian department The Waterman ar
rested her and summoned the curator.
! When he came 1t was discovered that
the half amulet still reposed in its
/ place inside the case The half which
Helen Blythe held in her hand was
mine-the other half, and willed by me
to the museum. The young woman
made no resistance but suffered her
self to be led away. as if in a comatose
state. She was brought to my house.
| identified the half of the charm,
and the girl was placed under arrest,
to be released under suspended
sentence yesterday
Where is the girl?" asked Doctor
Emmanuel
why. doctor" said Mr.. Tarrant,
flushing, Il am ashamed to say that l
have taken her back"
eGood!@ calculated the doctor, puff
Ing vigorously at his cigar. But she
will steal again
Indeed. no." answered the million
ARE with conviction. I'VE had very
serious talk with her, Mrs. Tarrant and
L We told her that we felt. under the
circumstances, which we had not fully
understood, that We ought not to turn
her adrift into the world We thought
that by the force Of example, perhaps,
We might cure her Of her unfortunate
propensity. And so she was re-engaged
mot. of course, as governess, but as
a sort of aid to my wife"
And she was penitent?"
Entirely so. She protested that she
would conquer her weakness; she
vowed never to touch jewelry again,
or to look at it. She pleaded earnestly
for our confidence. said it was only
rings which she felt an irresistible temp
tation to take, and"
And she will steal again" said Doc
tor Emmanuel.
well. doctor. you have poor faith
in human nature, considering your hui.
manitarian profession" said the mil
lionaire
Il tell you, Mr.. Tarrant, she will
steal again" persisted the doctor.
You cannot eradicate the instincts de-
rived from former incarnation with
kindness only. Doubtless she was a
wealthy gem collector in Rome or
Athens-or Alexandria, more likely
about the year 100 A. D."
Paul Tarrant smiled skeptically
will you tell me how you arrive at
your date so exactly. doetor?" he
asked.
by the analogy of the lilac tree, :"
replied Doctor Emmanuel The lilac
blooms for two weeks in every fifty
tWo-is that not SO? Then We may say
its sleeping life is twenty-six times as
long as its life in physical form. Now.
If we take the normal human life to
be seventy years, each human item
,, will reappear after an interval of about
500 years-shorter or longer accord
ing to the individual idiosyncrasy, but
more or less upon time Hannibal. for
instance, whose discarnate life must
have been peculiarly rich in memories
and therefore prolonged, was reborn
as Napoleon after a little more than
1000 years. Cicero reappeared as
Gladstone after some 1850 years; the
fabulous Queen Semiramis after 2 1000
years as Cleopatra, and after some
l $50 more as Catherine H. of Russia
These mighty figures appear and re-
appear through history with the regu-
larity of comets, and like them. are
recurrent phenomena which flash
through a wondering world. Well. then
some 1920 years ago your Helen
Blythe was a gem collector or lapidary
or something similar in the classic
world and it is the unqualified desire
| for jewels which has made her KEEP
tomaniac today"
Perhaps you would like to see her
DOCTOR" the millionaire suggested toll
erantly. Il confess | am not con-
WINGED as to the truth of your theo
ries, but | should UNNECESSARILY like to
know just how the ancient Romans
set their rings
Doctor Emmanuel accepted this seri-
ously, and before we parted it was ar
ranged that we two should visit Mr.
Tarrant at his house after dinner on