The Halifax Comet. — 1893-03-11 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE COMET.  been noted .by one lady who had had the nerve to Emulate unconsciousness while inite secretly obeery • his felonious operations in the subdued half- • ht of her boudoir. A panic of fear was said to existing among such as were noted for the number and value of their jewels; and sarcastic comments were passed upon the ineffectiveness of the police authorities.  Madame Vestria was a woman of exceptionally strong nerve, but she could not restrain a little timorous thrill, when, having finished the article, she limped across the salon to the door of her boudoir, intending to summon her maids and retire for the night. Before entering her boudoir, however, she turned to extinguish the wax lights of a candelabra that had been left burning, in addition to the small shaded lamp by which she had been reading. The candelabra stood upon a bracket, and cast a strong level light up, the floor, throwing out the shadows of the intervening pieces of furniture, especially of the !ergs table at which she had been sitting, in pretty strong relief; inasmuch as the shadedreadmg-lamp in the middle of the table shed its lesser lustre in a small circumscribed circle.  As she cast a final glance over the room, she was suddenly filled with fear on perceiving, east out upon the floor directly across her footstool, the unmistakable shadow of a man crouching under the table at which she had been sitting. She remained perfectly. uiet, but her terror was increased a -fold as she saw, or thought she saw, the image of a hand that possessed but two fingers.. She was donvinoed that the mysterious criminal whose deeds had so excited the city was lying concealed there, and had so lain, probably in contact with the very folds of her dress, the entire evening. Having come to this conviction, through a swift and dreadful train of reasoning, which every woman can understand, Madame Vestris remained for a moment almost petrified. Her jewels were noted for their splendour and costliness, and she was known to always have them in a casket at her bedside upon refiring; and since her arrival in Paris it had also become well known that she was in the habit of retiring comparatively early, while her husband's duties kept him away from the hotel until a late hour. Her maids slept at the further end of an outside corridor, and thus for a considerable time she was virtually alone upon the third floor of the hotel.  Of course, the robber had made himself acquainted with these things, and was waiting his opportunity to enter upon his course of pillage and violence, possibly to end in murder. These thoughts and conclusions flashed through Madame Vestris's mind with terrible rapidity. Then, by a tremendous effort ofswill-power, she not only recovered her intrepidity and coolness, but also formed a plan to extricate herself and outwit the villain. Without extinguishing the lights, she began to carol a light, operatic air, while resuming her seat, and touched the silver bell on the table with which she was in the habit of calling one or the other of her maids. This action alone cost her a great pang of fear, for if the spaniel should accompany the maid he would, doubtless, at once sniff out the presence of the concealed robber, who might then attack her without L delay. Fortunately, however, the maid who