Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-12-17

and, reading as I munched. 1 tried to
make up for lost time; and it was not
till had finished eating that remem-
bered to put away my coat and hat
that had thrown off on the divan.
1 carried them to my bedroom and
pulled open the wardrobe door. In
the bottom of it lay the three tur-
quoise-beaded slippers!
My coat and hat fell out of my
hands on the floor and sank down on
the bed. / was not merely mystified-
I was frightened. How had they come
there?-and when? They were not
there when took out the coat IN the
morning to go to Mrs. Delarfo'S-to
that knew / could swear, for in my
hurry to be rid of her diamonds had
snatched the coat out and dropped it,
and I couldn't have missed seeing the
slippers then, any more than / had
missed seeing them now.
Now, under ordinary circumstances,
finding the three slippers in my ward
robe wouldn't have upset mel should
very likely have thought 1t a lapse
of memory and let it go at that; but
I was by way of keeping tab on them
and I knew couldn't have put them
in the wardrobe, because the last thing
I knew of them they were gone out of
the fiat entirely. I could only stare
and feel horribly creepy.
If this We're not a manifestation,
+hon com had o0aQcc ta NV f1at
But who? And why slippers? /
| jumped up at this thought and began
| digging into my bureau drawer-I had
| five hundred dollars cash buried there
that had been paid over to me in the
settlement of an estate and I'd not
had minute to take it to the bank.
The cash was safe. Everything else
was safe, as far as l could see; not
chair was out of place; nothing had
| been moved or touched since left the
| f1at-only three slippers. And why
slippers? The more I thought the
more disturbed I became, it was all
so uncanny. One thing was clear to
me, though-whoever came in to mon
| key with the slippers came while /
| was out.
"I'll get a new lock as my next
move in the game" said I; and this l
prepared to do Immediately, not by go
| ing out and leaving the diamonds-oh,
| no II was TOO really scared by the
slippers to leave the diamonds now
alone in the f1at-but by finding lock-
smith in the telephone book and invit-
ing him to call; and I was diligently
pursuing him thus when my telephone
rang and I threw down the book to
answer it. And in response to my
'hello' I recognized the voice of Mon
sieur de Ravenol.
"Why, how do you do, MONSIEUR
I exclaimed, thinking instantly he had
some scheme on for getting me to take
charge of Claire for him, since Mrs.
| Delario wouldn't keep her.
81 am as always, sank you, but it is
our friend, Madame Delario, 1 wish to
speak wis you about"
"Mrs. Delario!" I cried, thrown off
my guard by this unexpected name.
"What about herr"
'tShe meets wis an accident and
wishes to see you Immediately"
can accident! |" I was dismayed and
thought, "Poor woman, what next for
her?"e but called back, "What sort
of an accident?" and before he could
tell me I added, "When did it hap
| pen"
my daughter and I are just now
calling on her to pay our respects and
madame faints and falls, striking Sc
verely her head. call at once re ply
stefan and he says zere may be neces
sary an operation. She refuses-until
she can speak wis you about some pri
vate matters. / shall tell her you will
comeY
For moment / wondered if she had
given him a bint of the private mat
ters," and / asked him point blank,
''Do you know what she wishes to see
me for?"
"She asks only Eat / send for you
Immediately, and / obey her instruc-
tons. 1 tell you only what re doctor
have told me-and ask me to send for
her best friend. She say it is your
self and she must see you. You will
come immediatelyW
"Yes-immediately I'll be there In
about twenty minutes"
I rushed to her, buttoning my coat
as I ran downstairs, and it was not
until 1 had taken my seat in the sub
way that / remembered had left her
diamonds In my fiat!
CHAPTER vi.