Omaha daily bee., 1921-07-17
The Married Life of
Helen and Warren
Helen's Decoy to Test Her Maid
Brings Only Humiliation and Defeat.

Brings Only Humiliation and Defeat
With a blue pencil from her sew
ing basket, Helen made a small bu
distinct cross in the corner OF eacl
OF the three five-dollar bills
Then viewing them critically, th'
cross seemed too conspicuous. Be
sides it could be erased! Ink woult
be much better.
Rubbing out the blue marks, sh'
proceeded to remark the bills witt
ink. This time she made a small
circle on the white "V" of Lincoln:
shirt front.
Returning the money to her new
change purse, again her indignation
flared up as she thought of the one
that had been stolen, 1t was the
loss of that purse with its content:
of almost ten dollars that had
prompted this stratagem.
In the last week she had missed
three things the purse, stickpin
that was always in her pin-cushion
and a string of favorite but inexpen-
Sive beads.
She had been loath to suspect
Cora, but there had been no one
else in the apartment who could
have taken them.
Almost reluctantly she placed the
purse on her dressing table. As it
was Wednesday, the day for clean.
ing the silver, Cora would have to
come to the dressing table for the
toilet silver.
The bulging pocket-book now lay
Just beside silver-backed hair
brush, where Cora could not help
but see it. If she took one of the
marked bills il would be reasonably
certain that she had taken the other
things.
Ready for the street, Helen gave
final apprehensive glance at the
dressing table as she left the room.
Cora" she swung through the
pantry door when you clean the
silver, / wish you'd try that new
powder. Use it on just few pieces
and see how it works"
Cora, who was already laying out
the flat silver, nodded sullen as
sent. She was never enthusiastic
about new methods. Her mind
worked in worn grooves from which
she was stubbornly unwilling to de-
part.
"If anyone calls up, you can say
I've gone to Mrs. Stevens for lunch
con. They can get me there. You
know the number"
Outside in the warm benign sun
shine Helen felt suddenly guilty.
The marking of that money seemed
almost underhanded. She wanted
to 60 back for it, but there was no
time. The luncheon was at 1:30 and
it was now 10 minutes after.
Hurrying on, she kept worrying
over the purse. Was it fair to de-
liberately tempt the girl that way?
What il she were innocent of the
.other thefts-and now succumbed
Ia this enticement?
Mrs. Stevens, who had called yes
terday to invite her to luncheon.
had suggested the scheme. She had
tried it successfully with one of her
own maids. The finding of the
marked bill in the girls possession
had led to the recovery Of a dia-
mond brooch taken few days be-
fore.
At first, the ruse had appealed to
fl-4en as quite legitimate, but the
more she thought of it, the more
nerturhed she felt.
During the luncheon and the
three rubbers of bridge that followed
the incident Of the marked money
was crowded from her thoughts.
One cannot play bridge and brood
over other things. so she had tairly
enjoyable afternoon.
But on the way home, again those
intriguing bills haunted her with
vague depression. The moment she
entered the apartment, she was con-
scious of something unusual. The
very air seemed ominous.
There was no sound from the
kitchen. The silence was curiously
hostile.
Glancing through the dining room
to the closed pantry door, Helen
hesitated, then passed on to her own
room.
There lay the purse, beside the
silver that shone with the usual
Wednesday luster. Her heart beat
fast as she took it up. What would
she find? Were all the bills there?
She shrank from opening it.
Some silver clinked to the floor
as with nervous clumsiness she took
out the bills. One-two--three! So
ii was all right!
But the rush of relief was only
temporary. Her suspicious were
still active. Cora was very shrewd.
Perhaps the trap had ben too ap-
parent. She might have noticed that
the bills were marked.
How foolish to have marked them
at all! How much simpler to have
made note of the numbers! The
bills were new and clean. That
circle on the shirt front might easily
have been detected.
Again unfolding the bills, Helen
Eetd" them up to see just how con-
spicuous the marks were. A startled
cry escaoed her.
Amazed. bewildered. she stared
at The three cuts of Lincoln. There
we're no marks on the shirt front!
On each bill the small white 'V"
below his cravat was unblemished.
What did it mean? She had
marked them distinctly-with ink!
And there were no signs OF erasure.
Then it dawned upon her that
these bills were not fresh. The ones
she had marked had been crisp and
clean, direct from the bank. These
we're crumpled and worn-and one
was decidedly soiled.
Cora had changed the bills! But
why? Slowly the hot blood Grim
soned Helen's face. This was the
girls answer. She had uncovered
he plot and had struck back.
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