Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-10-07

bOn Z keep Saying tnaJs Alutui IL
you put it here 1t would certainly be
here. wouldn't it2"
II should rather imagine So" was the
dry answer Nell heard him get to his
feet n join his wife at the table. Then.
after a moment, he said In an altered
tone, mo, 1t isn't here. And yet / know
l Emily Do you think-do you
think 1t could have been-stolen?"
"Aldenl Good heavens! 1t isn't pos
sible. We've been right here in the
room, except for the few minutes"
Or. Taylor was here. Exactly. But
1 tell you. I put tt
The servants wouldn't@"
mo, no.: Of course not. They'd have
taken silver or jewelry long ago. instead
of just q book"
"A three thousand dollar book, Alden,
that can never be replaced" She sound
ed really alarmed now.
Her alarm was as child's play, however,
compared to Nell's.
You would think, too, that others
would have gone" he pointed out, try
ing to be calm; "others of greater value"
"But-perhaps-they have"
we must look"
There followed sounds of perturbed
movement, as, presumably, the pair u
ried from bookcase to bookcase. Once
the curtain swayed in front OF Nell's
frightened face, but fell back into place
again immediately.
At last the quick footsteps came to a
halt, and Mr.. Brewster said, with relief,
mo. Everything else seems to be here
Alden" Mrs. Brewster, asked him.
Are you positive you-'
"W-well-'With less assurance now
even the best of us"
Make a mistake now and thenl'
"We do. But one thing l am Ire Of
I did not take it upstairs. It's some
where in this room. Come. We must
ransack the place"
They did. If moving chairs, opening
and shutting Of drawers, pulling out and
pushing in Of books could be counted as
indications, they turned the place inside
out
After a good FIVE minutes of this, Mrs.
Brewster exclaimed sharply, "Aldenl"
yes. What is 1t? Have you found it?'
His voice was oddly smothered, as If he
were speaking from the depths of q
drawer.
mo. But I've. thought of something
"What?" ,.
1.-THE window"
What Window" :
Don't be dull That window. 1t was
open. Don't you remember? We left II
open when we went upstairs"
Eyes, we did. And it's open now
But"
But that is the answer. of course
Some. one crept in off the lawn and took
it. Any one could see it was valuable
Probably they were going to take more
when we came down"
you may be right. Emily. A most care
less thing, with the servants at supper
ooh, Alden, Alden, beautiful book
The only first edition available. probably
for a lifetime" She spoke with unmis-
taxable anguish.
Nall .v{t1 a04to1 annt1f6hf u x7ac q moro
that he was another opportunity to make
herself known and return to the lost
Labors. But once more pride kept hel
cornered.
Look on the window SILL Mrs. Brew
ster was urging a bit wildly. Look be-
hind the curtains. Look all around that
window. Come, Alden-help me-, II
Nell's breath was coming unevenly. A
sobbing gulp welled up n her throat
And when she heard a sudden ring o
the doorbell the gulp became suddenl,
audible. 1.-THE policel" was her first un'
r%easoning, terrified thought.
1t was apparent, however, that thu
Brewsters had heard neither gulp no
bell. The scraping of their feet upon thu
sill. the pushing back OF glass windows
the general confusion across the room
gave evidence Of. their uninterrupted &C
tivity.
Then came another ring of the bell
and, almost simultaneously, a cry from
Mrs. Brewster.
"Aldenl"
Have you found it?"
"Alden-lookl"
Good Godl SlippersI A woman's slip
persi"
"You seer I was right The book wa
stolen-by some woman vandal-wh
came in through the window. And she
gone with it, n without her shoesi''
Nell was certain that 1t could be but
matter Of moments now before her cur
tain would be swept aside and she dis
closed, shamed and slipperless. She fel
that the limit Of her endurance had bee.
, reached. She had borne all h could.
But she had reckoned without the fms
straw.
It came In the sound of a voice fror
the hall-not the voice of the police. {
Law and order, but Tommy's voice. lou
and full of wrath. Get out OF the wa.
I sayl I guess ] don't need any one
show me inl I guess I can ind my wa
In aloneI" a
He was quite right. He could. He nc
only found his way in, but he stampe
his way in demanding, ~furiously. "Hay
, you seen my wife?' 4
Nell heard two we'll bred gasps. an
then Mrs. Brewster's voice, startled an
cold.
mo, DR.. Taylor, we assuredly hav
Then she's gonel Absolutely and CON
, pletely gonel She-I-she-" Il
stopped breathless.
wait O moment, doctor. walt Just
moment. Try to calm yourself" M
Brewster sounded reluctantly compai
sionate. Nov, then. tell us Ell
/, actly what the trouble It," I.
She's gone, ! tell you. / left ht
here-I mean, outside OF here, She sal
she might walk home. But shelly
: looked everywhere. Up and down tn
road-shouted and yelled all over til
ihouse-yelled and shouted-woke up tf
twins" Nell closed her eyes In brit
|. p~rayer)-"Police station. Hospital. \
' Use. Gone"
. How very terriblei" exclaimed Mi
t Brewster, "And how very-ah-extrao
binary. WAS this sympathy, or susp
: cion2) I'VE, too, suffered a loss"
"A loss? You?2 Not-'Tommy's str
dence lowered quickly into gravity-"n'
Eleanor"
/" mo, mol Dear me, mol A ShakespeA
quarto. A first edition, excessively rar
q The only one avail
/ "A book" 1t was the shout OF a ms
q beside himself.
"A book Damn 1T, you stand there al
. talk of losing a book, when +" Th'
- suddenly, al%armingly, his voice droppe
The next words were spoken in a viii
per. What are you doing with-with
those?"
: with whatP what9"
"Those-shoes."
II found them"