The Elbert County tribune., 1920-04-23

He did not see Mrs. Delario that night.
Neither did he see me-but then
he didn't intend to- l waited for the
mysterious visit until half past ten.
every minute feeling 1t more unwise
of me to see him. AT that hour, using
its lateness as my excuse. / locked up.
determined I'd not speak to him at all
until had had chance to talk things
over with Billy. / went to bed but
not to sleep. 1 knew something un-
foreseen had happened = something
Mrs. Delario must know or Sense" or
she wouldn't have brought back the
diamonds after the positive way I'd
refused them in the morning.
/ kept telling myself, "Oh. well-Tll
know in the morning and I'll find some
way to meet 1t when it comes. Things
can't be any worse" and thus / fell
asleep without an inkling of the
another day.
had gone TO bed with quite bit
of crouch on Mrs. Delario-I think
anybody would have felt the same in
my place. was perfectly willing that
she should keep her faith in Iibetan
masters or mahatmas along with the
emperor's diamonds, and l stood pre-
pared to help her do both; but If l
were willing to make such conces-
sions to her 1t did seem us If she
oughtn't to go throwing off her re-
sponsibilities and her diamonds on me
all the tlme She didn't seem to feel
she owed me any consideration. Very
complimentary. of course, that was
the only person in the world she dared
TO trust; but I've found from expert
ence there isn't much in that sort of
compliment-for the recipient. And
she hadn't even troubled herself to
explain why she'd brought them back
to warn me of what threatened !
That was what ranked more than
anything.
l walked up grouchier than ever
If she'd been there I'd have told her
what l thought about her How was
/ to hide her diamonds now? | had
exhausted all my ingenuity with the
hyacinths, so what between raclling
my brains and nursing my crouch,
decided | wouldn't hide them at all,
and what I did was TO turn them bot
tom side up under the cotton and fill
the rest of the box with pens and drop
1t carelessly on the tray where 1t had
been. And when I'd done that | was,
to all intents and purposes. back in
the same hole again If | went out
and left them in the house they might
be stolen If l took them out with me
l might be robbed.
From being grouchy got mad at
her: and from being mad 1t was but
a step to the idea that | was fate's
instrument to save the nation, and by
the time I'd finished breakfast | had
decided to go to Washington immedi-
ately and lay the matter before the
president and let him attend to Ger
many.
/ had just settled the laudable In
tention with myself when Billy
breezed in. He was rosy; he was cor
dial-oh, veryl I'm free to say I've
never seen Billy quite so cordial since
the day l rescued him from maternal
spanks and curled his hair and
pressed his Fauntleroy suit-the day
the boys threw him in the swimming
hole. But his young face was also
clouded with anxiety and he was
puzzled still at the stand I'd taken the
night before-that Mrs. Delarlo was to
keep the diamonds-and that I'd had
no chance to explain to him.
He said Hello" four times and
pumped my hand off.
You're still alive, I see," ne OBJ
served with sweet smile.
Without waiting to hear what had
to say he threw his hat on the table
and ratified or, well, got her back
to the hotel all right-she was as-as
gay as anything all the way down.
Her father was standing in the door
looking for us-I guess he was scared
stiff that she hadn't come-and the
minute she saw him she threw herself
in his arms and went into Mysteries I"
Billy's face puckered up with his
anxiety and his sympathy as l ex-
claimed, "Poor child"
II couldn't do anything more so L
I
even try to say goodby to her. Do you
think she'll think that was queer of
me?-go off without saying goodby7"
He was anxious on this point.
mo. She's enough the lady to re-
gard it as great delicacy on your
part"
II hope she WILL" he said fervently.
But do You think the shock-last
night and all-was too much for her?
Say-Tm worried" he looked at me
in an appealing way.
answered. amused, ~ suppose
that means you want me to go right
down to the hotel with you and find
out all about her. / suppose maiden
aunt has nothing to do but go racing
off with jelly and make one big dra-