The Ordway new era., 1920-01-30
AaJrsy tse o,t-sr nTe

r. Wa rhEs ES-t ~ ding sbc1t her
that rnsse ne Ike Mrs. De1sriS 30
r-gseE-aer villages to szcrs> ant
20 -zft for HnzI p-oo<s q penpls's de-
nnqzenesss- She had1'r eFs1 sea-
t4-ss h@- ssspleisn 10 Claire; AZ TIE
s=n,e tllze the szrsdsnt cee56ed her
that she eoElt on no secO1Et keep ths
eh..d tonzer IN TIE house. the worry
ft is.5kinz after her gaz tao great. and
she had tod Claire this ard that II her
fzther dsta'r arrive By sf5z=ssT Claire
would have 20 90 20 boarding s1tla.oi
Sar safeksspfaz I'll he did Ifo1sse9r
Il -rers opportE1sIJ arrived next
rooruinz and took Claire away. That
Wzs TkursdaF-fhe day before SHE
called On nse-znd Claire had been
with Nrs- Deizrio Just ssnee Monday.
Very naturally. then. In all the story
asTsr ozee tsogzs- Of the slipper sat
that Mr. DeIzrso might BE- ssspec-inz
Claire of taking II also. B7t having.
20 10 speak. se-rIed Claire In saTInz
that stse had Isft % Thgrsdsy after
E0ol. Mr. Deizrio quickly switched
the conversation On the real su5jeet Of
ny visit She i1tro1zeei it By saying
that Lla-rt0 was xriH In boarding
seaooi near Paiizdeiphia-Ezss break
Ing Gozn and might have to be sent
abroad for t-eafTnsns-she seemed TO
be deTeiopfnz spinal trouble. though
the docrors here really didn't seen 10
kloz what allied the child; and then
the sentence dearly remember was.
Tn very greatly 10 need Of money"
fear / must have drawn back SID
Seniy-r actually thought she was try
Ing to borrow Of rne-f0r she smiled
and answered ray Ensposen words: y
don't mean want 70 borrow anything.
I have some property Ez1t TO dis
pose of- wzEf 70 sell some rubies--
why. Mr.. Defario. I'm not
dealer" 7 replied quickly.
T know you're not-that's why ]
tho1gtt you could help me better than
anyone eise. The stones were left me
By a zreat-uneIe 10 France. and I may
az well confess 1t nov-they came In
duty free
"Snouzgied ~ ! interjected-
'sWeiI, a friend brought them over
and they weren't found when the bag
gage war examined. But don't you gee
that vas Why / could sell them ct
b -zain7T
i don't know anybody who deals In
smUzzied zerns.7
@of course-5ut you needn't tell
fhat-Jou don't actually know how
hey got lli-TOu are selling them for
a friend. It's because you don't know
that that you can sell them better
than can. At least you wouldn't mind
looking at the stones and telling ne
what they're worth 80 I'll have some
thing To go on7 haven't an idea how
valuable they are"
Take them to Tlfany's," I sug-
gested.
I'm afraid to take them anywhere.
to tell you the truth Eugene took
them to n place on Maiden lane yes
terday and the people acted 10 queeriy.
Eugene-he's very psychic-got the
impression that they were going to ac-
cIise him of smuggling them or some
thing of the kind-steaiing the rubies.
perhaps from then-and he put them
In his pocket and ran ont. He THINKS
he was followed. but he couldn't make
sure. Don't you see how easy 1t
would be for anyone to accuse a lone
woraan Of theft"
''But how would they prove any
thingT- I interrupted. III the stones
are yours"
She stopped me with bitter laugh.
Cant you see that the mere public
accusation that I'd stolen Jewels would
ruin me professionally? II would put
me Instantly under suspicion of fraud
In all my dealings. Oh, you don't
know; you haven't a conception of
what this life MEANS" she went on a
little wildly. "You don't know the
struggle Just to make ones daily
bread. A lawsuit would ruin me finan-
cIaliy-I have no money to hire law
yer to defend me-"
I felt myself give in to her then, as
u friend. Yes. I'd help her In every
reasonable wny.
You mustn't labor under any false
Impressions about me- she went on.
Il have little property-not enough
to support two people-and what /
earn. / live here rent free-they pny
the rent-the circle that meets here
twice a week. / have the house much
ss minister has his parsonage. If
there were ever any scandal-if they
turned me out from hcre-Pd be prac-
tIcnlly penniless. couldn't make n
fresh start with that hanging over me.
And then my son!"
said. "Weil. get the stones and I'll
look at them II you care to have me
do that"
She left me with grateful smile,
but returned so quickly that rather
guessed she had the stones on her
person. 1t was dlngy little PASTE
board box she'd come back with. fas-
tened with common little elastic.