Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-01
The Mystery of the Red Flame

but there was something in her eager
glances that filled my soul with hope
| forgot all about the Red Diamond.
thought only of her and the privileg,
of standing by her Side.
She reached over for some music and
'" doing SO touched my hand. The con =
tact was like an electric current and
set mf nerves tingling. ! could have
sworn that the color came to her cheeks
ana that her eyes took ON softer look,
She paused for moment and her head
sank on her breast, and when looked
down i saw unbidden tears in her eyes.
Dora ~ / exclaimed involuntarily,
what is the matterT'
She brushed the tears away hastily
and smiled wanly.
ITS nothing" she declared hastily.
II IN tired and ovcrwrought."
She rose from the piano stool as she
spoke aud stood there with one hand
ON the instrument. tuconsriously
placed my arm about her, protectingly.
III was the last straw. Her head sank
on my shoulder and she sobbcd
Hugh! Hugh -
MY brain was in n tumut, my heart
peat turlously and | feverishly caressed
hcr sllken hair. There was rustling
sound from the rear and Aunt Sarah
awoke.
Bless my soul :" she cried. pcering
through the semi gloom, Il believe I've
been asleep"
Dora hurried over and planted an i'm
pulslVe kiss on her forehead.
You have" She cried trcmulously
and | think we should retire"
Ihey lcft the room together and Mt
the doorway Dora called out in a tone
OF infinite tenderness:
Good night -
! brcathed a sigh of contcntment
knew now that my love for Dorn vas
reciprocated. 1t was, indeed, good
night for me.
\ Surprise From Brazil
TNllE librettist sings that when love is
- young all the world seems gay.
When ! arose next morning felt as
though was walking on air. Evi
IDENTIFY | had never before experienced
the real joy of life. The grounds about
lledgewater House never appeared so
alIuring as they did that morning.
strolicd in the direction of the sum
mcr house and standing on the elevation
had a fine view of the Harmony river
sparkling in the morning sunlight.
II was delightful to sit there and
think of Dora and bliss. Presently a
cloud passed across the sky and tenn
porarily obscured the brightness of the
sun. 1t was a reminder that my JOY
might be short lived 1t recalled me
to sense of my duty. 1t brought forth
II query sharp and insisteut:
Wly I 4
The answer put dampcr on my hap
piness. To win the affection and the
love of Dora Wharton was one thing ;
to hold it amid these pcrpleXing cir
cumstanceS quite another. Suppose
she were unable to give Il satisfactory
explanation of her strange conduct D..
What then? | thrust the question from
my mind. 1t would be sufficient to
meet that emergency when it arose.
Strollcd in the direction of the house
No one was about and | was wonder
ing how | would amusc myself until
breakfast time when | noticed the morn :
ing paper lying on the porch where
it had been thrown by the carrier.
picked it up in a casual way and be-
gan to scan the headlines carclessly.
The first item of news that caught my
eyes caused me to jump with surprise
and amazemcnt. They said. Star of
the South Stolen" II was special
cabcgram from Rio Janeiro and it
told of how thieves had entered the
national museum Of that city and stolen
what was regarded as the most yalu
able diamond in the world. The rob
berry had occurred on the second of
October. and | remembered quite dis
tinctly that the Dom Pedro had left
Rio .Janeiro on the morning of Octo-
Der d. so it was quite probable that
the stolen diamond was the one that
had been brought over on that ship and
hidden in the thirteenth trunk which
had been so cleverly added to the bag
gage of the Spanish ambassador.
The story from the capital of Brazil
was column in length and it gave all
of the details of the robbery so far
as they were known.
1t told of the care that had been
taken to protect the Red Diamond.
how it had been kept in Il glass case in
a special alcove and how a Waterman
was kept on guard at the museum dav
and night, summer and winter. 1t
seemed that on the night in question the
watchman had been chloroformed and
while he was unconscious the thieves
had secured the keys of the alcove and
had opened the glass case which held
the treasure and escaped with the ia
nous diamond, leaving a cheap substi-
tutc in it's place.
That was more than three weeks be-
fore. Why was the news so late? Tho
answer was simply enough. 1t had
been suppressed. The director of the
museum was distracted when he ar
rived the morning after the robbery and
discovered the substitute. He knew he
would be severely condemned not only