The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-05-09

there was any second witness. then
It would be an entirely ninsrent
matter"
~Thsn the story would be- be-
lieved against the story OF Sn
Ralph-heinf" she asked excitsdiy.
"oh. certainly. ] sAouid imagine
II would"
"Tbsn." exclaimed Celeste. with
a note OF triumph In her voice. i
can tell monsieur that there was
another witness. there was another
that saw Sir Ralph. Not even yet
have told monsieur all the truth
OF what saw In the shrubbery last
night. Not only ala ] see Sir
Ralph, but just before ] had seen
him I had seen, too. that bad fel-
low, that poaching fellow. jim
Heasden--he was In the shrsbbery.
100. He was there, ! think" said
Celeste, speaking more quickly.
still as II she were IN a hurry TO
explain the reason OF Heasden's
being In the shrubbery, because
he was setting the traps for the
rabbits. He is a poschins fellow"
she repeated, as II to emphasize
her poor opinion Of him. HE was
just speaking to mel was asking
him what business he had there
when Sir Ralph came from the
Summer-honse, and We both saw
him" 80
"You saw this fellow in the
shrubbery, mademoiselle, yes? And
you thought he was poachingT
YES" said the girl.
"And you saw sir Ralph COM
ing"
,"Yes."
"And what did you do--you and
Heasdeu? Did he not soc you!"
"No, We were in the shadow OF
the trees and he passed by"
"And why--I do not understand,
mademoiselle-y had seen this
fellow, whom you thought 10 be
poaching, and You saw Sir Ralph
coming-why did you not call out
to Sir Ralph and tell him that the
fellow was there?"
As q matter OF fact the sergeant
was not nearly so much at loss
to understand the situation as he
gave the girl to suppose. But then
he had received an enlightenment
on its obscurity, Of which she was
not aware, In the course of hts pre-
vious talk with Susan, the old
housemaid, who had told him Of
Celeste being seen later than. In
Susan's opinion, she ought to have
been out, in the shrubbery path
and in the society Of this very
Heasden.
Celeste had all her quick wits
about her and responded, almost
without hesitation and with a be-
coming affectation of modesty, to
the sergeant's question:
p" 'It was late, monsieur-late for
a girl like me to be out. Sir Ralph
might not have liked It,"
81 see" said the sergeant, who
was enjoying himself immensely
throughout the conversation. "And
what time was ft?'
/"It was after eleven, monsieur.
l am afraid II was after eleven"
said Celeste. with modest shame.
"Or it may have been half-past?"
ut is possible, monsieur. One
does not know-the moon was 80
beautiful"
"Or even twelve?"
"Oh, no." Celeste was emphatic
as to that. She was sure It was
not so dreadful an hour as mid
night. What would monsieur think
of herr" .... .-
Monsieur did not state In answer
what his thoughts of her were. In.
stead he asked her how 1t was that
she was able to leave the house
and return to 1t, apparently at will,
at such an hour as even, say,
eleven. Her ready explanation was
that she came and went by way Of
the conservatory which opened out
from milady,s boudoir. There we're
two keys to the conservatory
milady was SO good to her, she al.
lowed her to have one of the keys,
so sne was free to come and go. =
1t was an explanation which the
detective presumed would have to
suffice. since her ladyship was no
longer able to confirm or to con-
tradict 1t. That there we're two
keys seemed probable enough.
though whether her lsdyship had
been cognizant of Celeste's posses
sion OF one of them, whether the
second might not have been OBJ
tanned covertly by the maid for her
own purposes, was a point that
there did not seem to be any means
of determining for the moment.
And were you in the habit.
mademoiselle, Of going out at so
late an hour"
Celeste adopted the pathetic role
again in making reply to this ques-
ton:
"A girl has not much time, mon.
sieur, a lady's maid, even to so
kind lady as milady, that she can
call her own. There is little free
dom. Only after milady had come
up and I had seen to her for the
night and she had said she did not
want me any more-only then
could go out"
"And what did Won do-vou and