Evening star., 1918-01-27

the thief, and there's the opal.
The duke stared at the man IN eudS.
den amusement. The leg-of-mutton
ns rns nso. sns e. ". .s sse
Its character-one might almost say Its
face Of Mr.. Beck. SO
Tho detective pressed little angls oe
the carved mahogany Of the desk with his
finger tip. As he drew away his finger
q section Of the carving Followed it pushed
sorwasd ns e. the top Of = icns e = ssssl needle
the wood. tightly packed with Jewellers
cotton. which he picked out and set IN her
grace's white hand.
cry Of delight. for in the palm Of her
small white hand her own peerless opal
flickeret and famed with changing In
nocuous fires, rosy and violet.
But the duke turned to his brother. who
sat sulky and silent after the sharp strug-
gle. when Mr. Becks pfacticed hands had .
slipped the handouts on his wrists in the
well. Herbert" he said. with = sud-.
den sternness Of face and voice very
strange to him. what have you to
Nothing; what's the use Of saying.
I came cropper. threatened to DO
posted. and the quarter Of Q million
packed tight in that opal tempted me,
It was q chance those two fools were
not for that But where's the use
OF blowing? The game is up. whas
arc you going to do about It nowf
Beck, cheerfuliy. II thought you mishI
like to keep it dark No one knows ax@.
"You leave England At onea Hsr~
bert" J;
WAS going anyhow. Too hot to b,
pleasant now that I've missed the coin.'s
''Tll pay your debts"
I've put the Atlantic between crsdisSrSs
and myself: It's no affair OF nina"
And allow you fivs thousand to stars
straight In the new world"
Thanks. awfully."
but il ever you show your fses IN
England again." the dukes voice grsws
stern again. so help me God. you must
settle with the law"
He turned on his hssls without fur.l
who had disgraced their blood. He;
drew his wife's arm within his. 6hs
was pale and bewildersd: tears shons.
In her wide-opened eyes. The duke.
on his arm and soothingly drew her
Mr.. Beck dsxteriously slipped ths,
handcuffs from the wrists Of the Hon.
Herbert and followed them down the
broad stairs. There was . motor car
awaiting At the door.
"Get In. You must dine with M,
We have not had half time enough to
thank you." said her impetuous grace.
What cruel. cruel thing to do! would
not have minded no much. except try-
ing to put the guilt on poor Lucy and
her sweetheart, and then shooting the
poor young man-it was too mean. n
shall send Lucy q wire At once. u
ing that awful man all my llfs but Tor!
you. How did you ever come TO gusssj
the TRUTH ! never could hsvs -bs>I
Seeing is believing. my lady. ana
"But how did yeu know the epsl]
was hidden in the desk in HsrbsFt'aI
chambersf
IT didn't know it-at arst. ! theughe
he tts kssD n;sD Il about him so
searched. I make up pretty well ~ anl
use going into that When I found hi
hadn't the opal about him. ssascha0
might have beaten ne even tAsrs if q
hadn't called in the X-rAy1. ] ANv0.
seen many q secret drawer In my AAyaS
but nothing like that. II was not To
b. b. SSI Sy .mos ., ss yeS :eS
under . magnifytng glase. had
looked through the legs Of table, and
chairs before came to the desk: but.
Of course. I was bound 20 see into
every square inch Of wood in the reem
before gave out. 80
But how did you come TO suspect
Herbert At allf' intarrupted hsr gFaeA.
Mr.. Beck took out his pockstboeks
dipped his big finger and thumb into
one of the compartments. and held up
something bright and shiny to tho|
light
It was q single curly hair. anhuras
decked with white.
TT was lucky, my lady. that you Aid
not get those wires In the safe Axeds
Do you know what that is?"
"one of Herbert's hairs. where did
You hnd itf'
where it had no business to boat
the bottom OF your safe
Then you guessed"
Then knew"
Copyright. 1918. Mcclure Newspaper syndicsea.y