Evening star., 1921-08-11
cd from Yesterdays star.)

| (Continu cd from Yesterdays Star)
self still to Mrs. crevehng.
-"About this servant, ma'am: what
twas her name?"
! lisa Helwig."
"You can find her description at
your hesdquarters. l imagine" re-
piled Mrs. Creveling coldly. "She was
a huge, broad-shouldered, deep-chest-
ed woman with large hands and feet
and great. thick ropes Of two-colored
hair wound about her head. Her
skin was very fair and her eyes blue,
believe. One would call her hand
some, in coarse way"
| There was pause and then NC
| Carly changed the subject.
Did you recover your emeralds,
mo. The police could find no trace
tof ,1n,an them, but the evidence was con-
'The. very fact that the creature
jumped her bail was proof enough Of
her guilt, should say" observed Mrs.
police have not located her if they
are really making an effort to do so.
Those things were worth small for
tune, weren't they. Myra?"
saSassns nevsr cared Mes
particularly for them, but an example
should have been made Of the girl" +"
| What was the evidence against
her. ma'am?" McCarty inquired.
Mrs. Creveling settled herself back
llanguidly on her couch. II had brought
| the Jewels home myself from the trust
| company vaults in a plain brown mo.
F! days before the pageant was to take
place. meaning to try their effect with
my costume. It's delivery was delayed
BY the modiste, however. and it did
L q Afr tNxafr
the affair. My maid. Yvonne. was i'll
and / rang for lisa to assist me in
trying 1t on. While Rollins was stak-
ing the message to her I crossed the
tained the morocco case from him
he had kept it in the small safe in
his dressing-room for me-and re-
turning. placed 1t on my vanity ta-
me and had unpacked the costume.
All the other servants were below
stairs, as was afterward proved, and
| the housekeeper was out.
Before had time to try on the
costume 1 was called away for a mo-
ment and when l returned lisa was
not there and my Jewels were gone;
the case was empty when l opened
Had you opened it before at the
homeE MccaFty rubbed his chin
tims elins|" you saw the jewels Mrs Crew
Just few moments before. in my
husbands dressing-room. When he
took the case from his safe for me
he opened it; I remember mention
reset % almost immedia,ely nc 'hs and si0hss hs
tried to prevail upon me not to do
30. They were very old and their
antique settings appealed to his ar
tistic sense" She spoke in that cur
I'M n vuyif trnn nf
emotion in which she had alluded to
her husband during the early morn
ing's interview. Il snapped the case
shut before I. left his rooms and
most assaredly in it when 1 placed it
on nay vanity table"
What did you do when you found
them gone and the maid, too"
Mrs. Creveling stirred as though to
rouse herself, and it was with an
obvious effort that she responded:
But you see did net discover the
loss of the jewels Immediately. lisa
the excuse that she had gone to her
own room to take a headache pow
der. did not realize until 1 thought
1T owed later how strangely confused
manner with her aid and it must have
been twenty minutes at least after l
returned to my room that l opened
the Jewel case.
tion was admirable; she seemed as as
tonished and concerned as the most
innocent person in her position would
have been and.I hesitated to accuse
I was compelled to tell them the ex-
act circumstances of my loss, of
course, and Mr.. Creveling's testimony
against her completed the evidence.
He did not wish to prosecute her il
she would return the emeralds. but
I felt it a matter of principle to see
that she was punished
McCarty's eyes rested speculatively
upon the cold beauty of the woman
before him, noting the implacable
lines about the perfectly chiseled lips
and the stern, unwavering gaze which
met his own, and he nodded to him
self as though in confirmation of some
unspoken thought. If Mrs. Creveling
thief, what revenge would she not
take upon the murderer of her hus-
band? With that strange pallor and
the splendid lines of her immobile
more like some marble statue of in
flexible justice than a flesh-and- blood
woman. Was it the principle" alone
Of which she had spoken that kept
the shock and strain, or w&s it some
deeper motive that impelled her, deep
er even than the reaction from, natural
grief would have been?o
" nat SE6VclluB testify 10,
ma'am? just that the Jewels were in
own roomr' Mccarty asked.
mo; that was a mere corroboration
Of my own statement, but the door of
his dressing room was open, although
do not think that Ilss knew he had
returned to. the house, None of the
other servants did, for he had let
himself in with his key and gone di-
rectly to his apartments just a few
moments before went to him for the
Jewel case. After I left my rooms
slip out with something concealed
beneath her apron and go down the
back stairs. not up. as she had
watched her. for the passing glimpse
he had caught of her face made him
curious, 1t was so white and strained.
He was still standing there when I
returned and would have mentioned
fher strange demeanor to me then,
but he thought he heard her coming,
as he explained later, so he closed his
own door. had passed on into my
room without seeing him."
HE could testify, then, that none
Of the other servants nor anybody
else had entered your rooms during
your absence" McCarty commented.
"I wonder, unless she was more stupid
than the average. that she did't know
she'd be caught!'
Mrs. Creveling shrugged.
"I can only give you the facts. Mr..
McCarty.
"she denied everything, and stuck
to her story when she was accused 2''