Show IT 0uD rCJ2 TI trr l CopyrIght 1005 by Dally Story Pub Co I Russell had mado no mistake Thcro was but ono jewel like that In tho wholo world Ho had made suro of that before ho bought It for his wife ten years before Curious It was n solid diamond heart flanked by a score of tiny ruby ones held In placo by tho finest thread of gold that was 1 quite Invisible at the distance of u few feet Tonight she was wearing It In n now Illocoos a solo ornament to tho gleaming pile of corngold hair that alone might have mado Nannto RUB noil beautyfamous But besides this I there were eyes of a matchless amber gray n richly pale perfect skin and fine scarlet lips that were grnvoly sweet RuHsell gradually lot his eyes awny from tho jewel to a furtlvo contemplation contempla-tion of hid wifes familiar features No seven years had mado slow progress prog-ress In ageing n woman of this Indestructible Inde-structible typo If anything sho had grown more splendid In her thirties than sho had over been In tho old girlhood girl-hood days of their first love Sho was conversing spiritedly with an ambassador and Russell thanked Heaven that ho had been allotted n seat at the other end of tho table She would hardly bestow more than n casual glance In that direction and ho relied upon his short beard and eyeglasses eye-glasses to protect hIm from recognition recogni-tion Tho dinner progressed tlresomely nnd tho running flro of small talk Rus Boll found himself obliged to keep up with tho lady on his right was about tho hardest work tho young broker had over done In his life Presently thcro was a lull and ho became conscious that all eyes woro turnod upon the man who sat directly opposite to him Yea Hurlbut was saying It seems I am hero on a very absurd quest considering tho fact that I dont oven know tho fellows name or address ad-dress or that of any of his friends All I have to go on Is that ho lived on Fifth avenue seven years agowas tall and dark and smoothfaced with tho prettiest wlfo In New York and spent his work hours on Wall street Russell started Luckily no one was looking at him and tho ridiculous I red that poured over his face went unnoticed After all how many thousand 1 I thou-sand pcoplo there were to whom this I description might apply as well as to himself lie sincerely hoped ho was not growing egotistic The man was dying you sooIt was out In India nnd all I could get a out of him was that this friend of his had brought a lot of trouble and seeming seem-ing disgrace upon himself In trying to shield him from It and that I must move Heaven and earth to locate hIm and make matters right between him and his wife who It appears left him because of this thing Russoll shifted his gaze transiently to his wifes face From pale It had grown all at once bloodless and sho watt leaning forward with parted lips and wide tense eyes A remark from her dinner partner recalled her to her I 1 f x f She had grown more splendid In her thirties self and sent tho crimson to her checks She made some hurried response re-sponse laughing In a halfhysterical little way to conceal her agitation Then she looked back at Hurlbut again he had stopped talking and Russell almodt jumped at tho sound of his wifes clear controlled tones Do tell us all about It Mr Hurl but sho was saying a romance llko that Is too rare not to bo interesting There Isnt really much more to tell he answered smiling thats where the trouble comos In Evans was always more or less gloomy almost al-most melancholy except at times then ho was unpleasantly hilarious Omi day ho got confidential and told mo nil about his trouble but withholding withhold-ing the names of the parties A month later ho was stricken with a fever and they sent for mo at his request re-quest In BOIIIO way ho mado It known to mo that I must look up these people and mnko things right now that ho was going But ho was too far gone to talk distinctly and I novor could got at tho names Tho story In brief however Is this Ho was staylxg with somo friends In town two weeks prior to his wedding wed-ding A young lady was there at hoI ho-I am afraid she has never ceased I to I house nnd Evans manllko found himself making lovo to her In splto of himself Ono night ho kissed her In tho rosegarden In some way It has never been discovered how tho fact cnmo to tho ears of his fiancee Sho vrolo an Immediate letter dissolving their relationship Evans replied asseverating as-severating his Innocence Ho could not do otherwise But tho girl refused to budge Ho confided In his friend who like n bravo Don Quixote took tho affair into his own hands and went to see tho girl and In order to prove to her that Evans was Innocent himself took the blamo of tho wholo thing and swore that ho It was who kissed tho joung lady In the rose garden gar-den And In turn tho young lady who was kissed betrajed tho man to his wlfo and tho wlfo took French leave But did the girltho ono who was kissed did sho uphold tho husband In his deception to protect tho other girls fiancee lust exactly Then I should have thought that tho husband would have explained everything to his wife Ho tried to pleadings wero vaIn I dont much blame her do you WellI hardly know A mans reply Wero thoro any children I dont think so That was lucky So many women have to endure a continual flagellation of their souls If thero are children But the man think of him He loved his wife ho must havo suffered terribly when sho turned on him If ho loved her so much why did ho place her In such a position I Ho thought ho could explain thought that sbo would trust and be llevo him And he loved his friend and couldnt bear to sco his life wrecked all on account of a llttlo nonsense non-sense Mrs Russell laughed then the tension ten-sion had to glvo way somowhero and when sho looked up again her eyes were calm with a now light In them Quito a 1 little drama sho remarked and so It has fallen to your lot to arrange ar-range a climax In n way It has And do you think tho woman would believe On tho oath of a dying man I think so Dont you Sho nodded I think sho would like to at any rate I gave Evans my solemn promise Why did ho wait so long to set matters straight Ho never knew of tho estrangement estrange-ment till a year ago Ho went to India In-dia you see After that thero was a silence and soon tho hum of general conversation was resumed Half an hour later on emerging from tho smoking room Russell found himself being presented to his wlfo At tho sound of his name she looked look-ed up startled and tho color faded swiftly from her face and lips Francis Tho name camo Involuntarily Invol-untarily In a sharp w er Tho hostess who Introduced them had disappeared and Russell drew his wifes arm within his and led her out Into tbo cool shadowy moonlight Nannie ho said suddenly getting both her hands In hie do you think that that woman would still like to believe that her husband had told her the truth Sho met his gaze for an Instant Impassioned pleading compelling and her eyes went down I am afraid sho has novor ceased to believe dear since It wastou IntoHe He ctooped and took her in his arms but for only a moment Somo one was coming and they moved off down the vcrnndn At tho end of It they camo face to face with Hurlbut Russell held out his hand First chance Ive had to speak to you old man I was very much Interested Inter-ested In that llttlo story of yours tonight to-night Meet me at tho club tomorrow at one and I may be able to glvo you a clue He turned to his wlfo with a little halflaugh and If youll condescend conde-scend to dlno with us at seven there may bo even a chance of meeting some of tho dramatis personao |