The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1920-01-01


will tell nobody Eat re jewels have
been stolen-nobody. And you will
give me your promise before you leave
zis room.'
He turned scarlet, and then deathly
white, but he got control of himself
Immediately.
So that was the way the wind blew
My shot had carried home-I felt /
had him, a good deal worse than he
had me. gave him another dose of
the same ammunition-"I certainly
shall-there's nothing else to do. Now,
then, what were the jewels Claire was
smuggling in?"
He kept back retort by biting his
lip and glared at me.
"What were the jewels?" repeated.
"You must at least tell me that-since
you accuse me of taking them. What
were they? know absolutely nothing
about them. You may believe me or
not as you choose, but it's your own
loss If you don't"
My words seemed to shake his con-
viction for moment-but only for a
moment; what he said next left me no
doubt as to the gravity Of my situation
in the matter.
"And now, madame, we lay all SUBJ
terfuges and evasions to re side. Zere
are but two persons who could have re
jewels Of my daughter-yourself and
Madame DeIario. / have already ques-
toned her, ful1y--to be quite frank-I
have search re house--wis her permits
sion I have also search her person by
means of e. woman detective-and she
has convinced me Eat she has not re
jewels of my daughter"
"Neither have r." I snapped.
He went on as if hadn't spoken.
my evidence is positive. and wis
Madame Delario's denial of all knowl-
edge her wish Eat send for you and
give you re opportunity to explain"
Where is Mrs. Delario--let me see
her Immediately" broke in. do
you mean to say she accuses me of
robbing your child?"
81 do not say she precisely accuses
but she has seen you-and Claire
has seen you-wis re package contain
ing re jewels in your hand
1 burst out holly, THAT'S a lie
every word Of it! never touched her
jewelry-or the package containing
her jewelry. Never
He flushed a deep red at the insult,
but he was making every effort to con-
troll himself seeing how enraged
was, he probably thought I'd use my
hatpin on him next-and whipped
him on, feeling that had the upper
hand.
Eyes, monsieur shall make you
take this case to court" went on
rapidly. "After that I shall sue you
for false arrest land Imprisonment, If
I'm imprisoned. But meanwhile, /
shall Immediately set the customs
house officials on the hunt for your
daughters jewels and find out wheth-
er they were actually brought into
America or not. If the jewels are in
the least valuable-as you seem to be
trying to make out-there'll be quite
neat little duty to pay, provided
they're not confscated outright
which is more than likely. Monsieur,
you have overlooked the fact that I
asked Claire-and I heard Mrs. De-
lario ask her-if she had anything to
declare and she told me she had not.
So shall be witness in the govern
ment's case against you.''
His expression had changed from
anger to cynical contempt, and he
sneered: Every clever. madame very
creditable to madame's nerve-ha, ha |!
Madame is afraid of Messing but to
lose zoze so valuable jewels Of my
daughter" and with that he stepped
so close I thought he was going to lay
hold of me.
/ stepped back, just out Of immedi-
ate reach and took a firm grip on my
hatpin.
"And now, madame-we-lay-all--
subterfuges-and evasions- to-ze-
side: Where are re jewels Of my
daughter?'
"And now, monsieur" / Knocked, I'VE
-lay-all - subterfuges and - eva
sion-to-the-side: I don't know"
With quick dive of his hand into
his pocket he whipped out small re-
volver.
Perhaps zis will refresh madame's
memory" he leered.
Well, it refreshed madame's some
thing-for want of a better term Til
call it creative genius. I waved the
revolver aside with gesture of con-
tempt and began: "Since monsieur
has been at all this trouble to obtain
an interview with me- may / ask d few
questions7 1t may be Of Importance
to both Of u.s."
Proceed"