The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1918-03-30

CHAPTER xlll.-continued.

IFsll0pC protest. Wucu yOu lVAu ne "
:ssre the necklace into the sunlight and
Nnsfy myself"
~Yes," Peter admitted gloomily.
rs the evidence complete enOugh3"
- Beggarstaff questioned gently.
re didn't want to tell you this, Betty.
&. my own part, I'd rather you had
nspired with Tad to smuggle-"
sDon't!" pleaded the unhappy wom-
-. Bending forward, elbows on knees,
800 stared somberly at the carpet. but
v" she asked after moment, do
- account for that perfect counter
f1tY'
simply" Quoin replied. "after that
mir Of Thursday night, on my own
- possibility l sent wireless to Paris.
n Cotfier's, In Betty's name. The an
Svss came through Friday night, say
- that the original owner had sold
n1te duplicate to a dealer In articles
- Paris, which he In turn had sold to
chance customer-defnite descrip-
fioa unavailable-the same day that
/. ~ real necklace was taken from Cot
{ fies's by your agent"
m seems incredible. OF all men
1hd Craven!"
You forget how little we know Of
him. the Dowager Dragon put In.
know of him7" Betty protested,
locking up. "Why, everybody knows
It'd Craven! Go out among our friends
and t1y to find one who believes he
would DO anything dishonest"
.And still, I insist, you forget how
lltfle We know Of him. Hark back into
Jour memory. my dear. How long have
~ known him1 Twelve or fifteen years
- most How did he come to know
III Through introductions to Z few
G1uba. indorsed by Lord Evesden-who
~ later drummed out Of town for
Sgd cheating, and never came back.
1T Tad Craven stuck. He didn't cheat,
I'D he was amusing, and as long as he
svas personable, agreeable and seemed
y have money nobody bothered about
- pedigree"
I've been looking Craven up" Quoin
supplemented. "Listen!" He began to
had from tiny memorandum book
Game to New York In '93 with q Brit
- musical comedy company. His wife,
Lefty Craven, fell Ill during the run Of
~ piece and died In public hospital
VI quick consumption. After that Cra-
IN got job with some show which
tished on the road. When he turned
- again he was training with a gang
= professional sharpers with whom he
1yed few turns on the transatlantic
~ route as capper. But he dropped
u before he became known to the
lice. Later he was running with q |
~ Lord Evesden; but shook himsas
- - he felt solid In New York and
ese ugly whispers began to 60 round
~ Evesden's play. The rest II
lnly circumstantiAl damnation."
soin put away his notebook and BE- |
m - tick OF his points on his fingers
= may not have escaped you that |
ke've been some pretty SIM burglar.
among orr friends In the last twelve |
11s Or %. They weren't frequent:
e they were al big hauls, and every
- was well planned and eliminated |
q clean getaway. And II 20 happens,
~ - one comes to look into II, that
e1even was especially thick with all |
people victimised. The biggest coup
- the theft Of the Joachim collec.
- worth several hundred thousand
gnllarA Now Lydia Craven, when she
sn1ne aboard the Alsatia. was wearing
cameo from the Joachim collection
alch she said her father had owen
- On her fifteenth birthday. Discreet
lnplng on the part OF Mrs. Beggar-
IN mas shown that date to have fallen
~ three months after Joachim was
eooed. incidentally, the cameo disap-
sared as soon a. Lydia and Craven
- on board. There's q sinister thread
inning all through the history Of h
gnaddeus Craven.n II
HIS voice trailed or into silence.
- Aerrilees was eying him steadily.
lou never got all that information I,
eetner since morning3s NrA Beggnr-
~ prompted.
No" Quoin admitted I've had 1
y eye on Craven for some time I
Whyr the old woman demanded I
unity. what made you first suspect l
well" replied ouoin. ne never 4
lAg true to me; and when 1t began to (
rumored that he was q candidate