The Jasper news., 1920-02-19

to her and he says nossIngl You sect
All II now explained"
''But, monsieur, are you sure Of this
man Haskins7" questioned. "Are You
sure he wasn't lying for the rewardf--
that all he told you wasn't a mere Co
incidencefr
'Bah r. he cried In tone o. disgust
and some contempt for me. "Coiuci-
dencel Madame, you must know zat
when you find more zan sree coinci-
dences in cnse you have -circum-
stantiai evidence When you have suf-
ficient circumstantial evidence you
have--proof. And when you have Ee
proof Of crime--you can acti"
He shot this or IL fierce determin-
ed tone and saw he was ready to
spring the mine under the Delarlos,
mother and son. To gain time, ! ask
ed: But are these condolences sum.
cientf--ar they evidencer
BAH" he cried ngain. "zey are
sufficient for any court !" He leaned
a little nehrer to me and spoke In
more confidential way, as II he expect
ed me to agree with him: "Ze chain of
evidence Is complete. Ze same heuse
--ze house In which zoze diamonds are
known to go In Eat slipper; re son Of
re lady who owns Eat slipper; re date
on which zey nre shown--not before
zey have arrive In America, Tut some
five days after; re seven stones And
re man Haskins have even describe ze
came box Oui-Monsleur Eugene
does not take zoze diamonds out of zat
box to show gem la small wl.ite box,
about re size"
Monsieur glanced over my table and
mondsl
about re size of zls," and he pick
ed II up.
My heart stopped beating. With a
tremendous effort raised my eyes
from II TO his face, just as he took hold
OF the elastic and snapped It.
"Ze chniu of evidence is perfect I"
he cried, pulling up the elastic and-it
broke with a sharp report.
The sound went through me like a
pistol-shot. / jumped half out Of my
chair and exclaimed, "Oh" and fell
back again. had heard the pens rat
tie. ! thought, Suppose he opens it,
suppose he drops It'll Heavens What
shall I do? How shall get II out Of
his hands and not betray myselfT" II
took about a second for these words
to fash through me, and before had
decided-or had need to decide. he
exclaimed: Pardon me, madame-dId
| frighten your" and laid the box back
on the table.
For moment was unable to speak.
The tension OF those few seconds.
while he actually held the diamonds In
his hands, had paralyzed me.
realized that ] was pressing my
hand to my heart l stopped that and
stammered, yves, / am a little nerv-
ous."
He waited moment for me to re.
cover my self-possession and then
went on briskly:
Madame, wish to say Immediate
ly-before we proceed anozzer step
Eat / appreciate your position. II Is
most dIffic1lt--nIost difficult for lady
such as yourself. You are re friend Of
Madame Delario. is 1t not2"
'Yes, am-Rnd you must realize"
He stopped me. "Oui--perfectly.
And 1t Is as her friend Eat ! approach
you now and ask your continued help"
"No, monsieur, you must let me
withdraw now from all further con-
nection with the case. have done all
cnn--I truly bave-"
II know-I appreciate" he cut In
"Now attend, madame. to ! y argu
ment Sree sings must be considered =
He checked them of on his fingers
p -"First, she confesses she has zoze dia
monds and will return gem to zeiI
rightful owner. Second, madame will
deny absolutely zat she have ever seer
zoze diamonds. II may be ze truse--
1t may not be--ze point Is, zat she de
, nIes ell knowledge. You and Monsieur
, Rivers have already told me re diff
Guilty l meet here-lf she have fint
. gem and deny It. Or. sird-she con
fesses to you everyslng about re find
. ing of zoze diamonds, but--you arr
her frIend--she induces you not to be
/ tray her secret--you promise her yoV
; will not. A most difficult position fo
4 you, madame, If Eat last is re case, 4
e 1t not7"
Decidedly" remarked dryly.
"Oui. And now beg you to appre
ciate xis evidence Of my esteem TO
! YOURSELF wish to spare you all pos
. sible humiliation. and yet to retail