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W NW N NN 1 f 1 isa sg I Ul Ct Diamond I I 3 ID l O t i t tI ro ro i r Q f L I I By JANE BUNKER I IJ i Copyright by Merrill Dobbs-Merrill Company j jJ J J w r M 1 H i F- F FH r H STRANGE STRANGE BEHAVIOR OF THE EXTRAVAGANT SLIPPERS V tr r. r Synopsis While in the little French town of at Vevay where the staid it 7 proper spinster who tells the story Is spending a va vacation she Is s asked to allow a young girl Claire de to be her companion back to the United States Although forming an attachment to the girl the heroine takes a a. dislike f to Monsieur de Claires Claire's father and declines On the boat she andst finds ands t Claire In the care of or a a. casual acquaintance Mrs Delano whom she had met while each was purchasing a a. pair of ot slippers exactly alike which figure largely In fa subsequent events l r Wl CHAPTER II II Continued f 2 2 I I hadn't meant Well of course anything any my- anything t thing so serious as that when I spoke but seeing that she was very much in and told her the LW earnest I let it pass story of the ring It is a pleasantly romantic tale the curious escapes from perils and sudden deaths coincident to toG G th the rings ring's possession giving you ou the J feeling that its it's lucky t 1 Mrs Irs Delano listened and arid when I hat had t finished d she burst out l Im mad madS madover ad S over gems simply gems simply mad Its It's been the v dream of my life Ufe to own them In hand- hand fuls You cant ant Imagine the influence I they have over oyer me I could coul sing I sing I tL LJ q could dance They thrill me through and through People dont don't gener generally lly think It but gems gems gems' are alive We ha had some discussion on this rather flippant on my part and it was this incident that started us talking g gems gems ms and gem gein values alues a subject that had ha had been my pet delight since childhood child child- l x J hood when I learned learne the story of the ring that was one day to be my own Y Y A A A few days later she came to my i- i stateroom with a very mysterious air f t u said al she had some stones she would t like to have me value for her and prot pro- pro t educed a package of topazes She s said ld She h hall hau I bought them in a little town a l In do Belgium f r- r t 1 ran them through gh my han hands s held j n few f w to the light and in less than sixty seconds told her they were worth orth from ninety cents to a n dollar apiece T h i Sh She in feather it r was high ov over er saying sayIng say say- ing ping shed she'd paid only a franc each for i them them thern She next asked me to appraise the diamonds lamonds in a a. a ring she wore I ga gave e her the value of the stones and f the probable price that ha had been heen pal paid I J r for it She appeared so much imY Imi impressed im- im Y i pressed by my knowledge that she flat fiat said as she rose to leave me i Ill I'll l know now where to come If I ever t f need expert opinion on stones stones and and Ic I 1 j f c may some day i I didn't think anything of this at the 1 J i-J 1 Hime time people people always alway say it to me out of politeness politeness and and I no m more re e expected Ji l her ller to call on m me as a gem expert J than I looked fOr her to call me as a au u physician or a lawyer lawer er or anything that 4 I pro professionally wasn't She knew I Iwas I. I was a writer for fot I was pegging away J 4 at Belgian Byways as hard as ever everI r I could to get It ready tn to time for Blanks Blank's magazine magazine so so mu much h that I had to tell Claire frankly she mustn't mustn't bother both both- er me me while I was wt working I remember remember remember ber that hat I was quite sharp to per her one morning saying I should not De beable able S to to go out on deck with her net till aft after afternoon after after- r- r s' s noon and after she had left me looking look look- o k h ing rather sad I had to rush to my stateroom for my foi forgotten gotten penknife and there was Claire tw t w rf I confess it surprised me to see her i i there without invitation but she excuSed excused ex ex- ii it by saying that she thought I p wouldn't mind shed mind shed she'd grown so sa tired ir f of of her ber own stateroom and Mr Mrs Delario w was a always wa s t talking about people she J. J i r I Is s t r. r ry r t 1 1 l i 0 C r- r It S Surprised Sw Me to See Her There I didn't and stow and wouldn't I Just ou out t of or pl let her lie He In my bertha berth bertha a while r f My Mp suitcase was open In the berthI berth I took it out and stowed it and then 1 just ou out of pity I 1 laid ld Claire down In its place and stayed with her That Tha the one trifling act probably changed t rf T course of my life but Im I'm telling the J. J story ry as s it unwound its length and coiled colled ts Hs ts entangling meshes over the IJ I anti ami feet fee j straight narrow path my were treading 1 r It Iti was Seas n because of our common Interest in- in In JiL ter terest in Claire that I saw a grea great 0 deal more more of of Mrs n Delario larlo than I other other- M. M r wJ 1 should bave have done It was on th the f. f last ast day out that she first mentioned her own children to me saying that one reason why shed she'd been willing to take ake the responsibility of Claire was that hat she was so like her Lila a gl girl l lof of thirteen I In ina a a boarding school and from rom Lila Llla she went on to Eugene who couldn't meet her at the steamer unfortunately unfortunately un- un fortunately because shed she'd come come back two wo weeks early an and he was in the West He seemed very near her heart and after talking of him for half an hour she either warmed warmed to tot it t or let slip by accident I couldn't tell tell which the words Its the the grief of my life life and and of his poor poor boy that boy that he be detests my profession s so But But what can I do doT Your profession I 1 What is your jour profession I exclaimed clah led thrown quite out out of my customary reserve in askIng asking ask- ask Ing ng personal questions I r thought she looked at me in a queer way and I saw she hesitated to answer I was on on the point of apologizing for my inquisitiveness veness when she startled me by replying rm Im rma Ima a clairvoyant I was was' thrown off my reserve still stillmore stillmore stillmore more and couldn't help echoing A clairvoyant I In actual astonishment she he was so different from what I Id I'd have haye lave expected to find under the name She added quickly I saw you didn't approve of of-didn't of didn't bel believe eve In in th j occult occult occult oc oc- oc- oc cult the day we talked about your ring and and Ive I've been at pains not to not to-not not to to 0 bore you with talking shop there are so many many oth other r interesting things that hat we have in common I I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable uncomfortable able and laughed to reassure her Oh dh Im I'm not sot agin agm it to It to tell you jou the truth ruth I dont don't know a blessed thing about it except what one picks up Inthe in inthe inthe the papers and arid of course course- She fairly took the words out of my mouth that I was at the moment trying trying try- try ing ng to keep In Of In Of course one gets prejudiced and looks on that sort of thing as all as-all all fraud There were both anger and a twinkle in her eye as though hough she knew shed she'd caught me Inthe in inthe the he act and then she added Its part partly ly what I went ov over r for to for to look up up some new mediums with a view to hav hay haying havIng having ing them come to New NewYork York and give And from this she went on and described described described de de- scribed dome ome of the phenomena shed she'd actually seen with her own eyes For instance a little peasant boy in the south of Fra France where France e where me to guess and I fancied she didn't like to trust t me with the secret secret Jacques Jacques Le- Le rolls whose phenomena were more wonderful than He was a physical manifestation me me- diem He was greater at ten years jears ot of age than Slade Slad Still even Jacques wasn't so wonderful as a young girl girl girlIn in Paris Paris Paris- she brought stones covered with dripping dripping drip drip- ping seaweeds out of the bottom of the ocean and slip she had once brought a alive alive live Uye bird into a locked room oom during a and anc had put after it-after it after it had fluttered all about and everybody saw it into a a closed dosed cage cage age dema ed 1 it twice in one evening said Mrs Delan o. o This girl had only just begun begun begun be be- gun to develop materialization as one of her phases 1 I confess It struck me as Mrs Delario Dela Dela- rio talked and told me how shed she'd been trying to make arrangements for for forone one of these persons to come over oyer with her that she w was s getting up new turns In her own shows much as a vaudeville manager hunts up up new performers for his She asked me to visit her in NewYork New NewYork NewYork York not professionally but as a friend and still sUll If I were interested and would undertake some somo investigations Investigations Investigations shed she'd be glad to help belp me and andI I 1 couldn't refrain from saying saving That Thatis is you'll put me next to some first- first class spooks I think this rather hurt her for she answered a little tartly You may not be interested now now but but you jou will beThe be The occult is coming into j your our life and you cant can't prevent it You'll get manIfestations manifestations manifestations mani manI- that will at will at least that may drive you almost insane if It youre you're not prepared for them and dont don't know I how to to handle the forces that are already at work about j you ou ou And w with Ith that parting shot shot that that of course anybody anybody anybody any any- body might fire into you jou OU in self self defense defense or just to be a little nasty she nasty she went away to Claire And Im I'm going to confess confess confess con con- fess right here that in spite of my skepticism I felt creepy I also felt clearer in my own mind mindon on many little things Id I'd noticed about Claire her coming to my stateroom that time her constant hanging about me even when she must have seen seen it was Inconvenient for me to have haye her and the way she seemed so much of ot the latter fatter part lart of the voyage 10 0 tob b b. b trying to keep away from Mrs Delario Delario Dela- Dela rio staying by herself In nor her state state- room room Had there been manifestations occurring in the stateroom Or had Mrs Delario been telling Claire Clah thin till she got the child so nervous the doctor was really serious over oyer her Mrs Deh Delario was as not at dinner that night and Claire left the table after the soup and as I was Iwas was busy packing I saw neither of them until morning when all was bustle and excitement for wed we'd passe passed the tIle Statue of L Liberty berty an and were steaming up the bay and would be on dry land almost before we knew It ft An And then we Vere were hanging banging over the rail and loo looking Ing down own at the friends of the passengers on the dock and nd I heard Claire in an agonized voice Mamma isn't meeting me Claire began to cry not boisterously but hut in a dreadfully pathetic lost lost child child w way y into Int a very beautiful French embroidered embroidered embroidered em em- broidered handkerchief an and all the customs inspectors gathered about her herand herand and she asked them each in turn if hed he'd seen mamma and described mamma mamma mam main ma and he shook his head and told her hed he'd help her look for mamma in in a minute as soon as as' as ashe he got the baggage Inspected and Mrs Delario and I got our suitcases opened and made Claire open her bags and her trunk and we implored the inspectors to look at our me meager ger belongings in a hu hurry ry and the y f f fYr Yr 4 r I Stuffed It In Among Some Clothes Clothe I inspectors s were all too busy asking Cl Claire lre what her mother looked like and what hotel she stayed at and Claire would use her exquisite handkerchief handkerchief hand hand- kerchief on her more exquisite eyes and say she supposed it It was Hotel they they always stopped at when they traveled Finally I manage managed to Induce an inspector tor to take his eyes off Claire for a minute and devote them to the baggage baggage bag bas gage of a middle aged person person person-my- mj- mj self self and and he cast a glance over over overy my y suitcase an and Mrs Delarios Delario's which was open on a bench beside mine and said all right Where does the young lady come from and isn't it awful her mother Isn't here and maybe maybe may may- be she's met with an accident on the way and been kIl killed ed Claire heard him him him and and almost fainted fainted fainted faint faint- ed into Mrs Delario's Delarios arms Now Nov just a moment before he said these words I noticed that one of the two pairs of turquoise studded slippers ha had fallen between the two suitcases I picked it up up p and I was on the point of asking Mrs Delario if it belonged to her when Claire collapsed and three seconds later I saw my cousin who should have met me coming up on the trot He made the first sensible suggestion suggestion suggestion tion that had been offered that offered that as Mrs Delario had Claire in charge shed she'd better ta take e the child home with her ber and cable to the father for The slipper sUpper was all this while in is my hand and without giving It another thought thought Indeed Indeed hardly being conscious conscious conscious con con- what I did SI did I stuffed it in among some clothes in my own suitcase suitcase suitcase suit suit- case and shut th the lid and away we went Wasn't it under the circumstances circumstances circum circum- stances a perfectly pere natural thing to todo todo too do o Well the moral is dont dont don't don't dont every carry off oft an old slipper sUpper unless youre you're sure its it's yours That old sUpper slipper slipper slip sUp I per nearly cost me my ray sanity an and my life Now when I unpacked I found the I slipper but even then it didn't occur r ri i to tt me that It wasn't mine I mine I merely I j wondered how I Id I'd lost the mate and it 1 was a couple of days before I got g t to the the bottom of the other suitcase and andI j I found mj o rn pair neatly done up In inI tissue paper Of course 1 new mew in instantly In- In I that the old slipper was Mrs Mis Delario's Delarios and remembered th then n ho hoW v vId I I Id I'd carried It off ocr but I didn't have a aI box suitable for sending It through the naIl mall to her so I set it on a chest I here where r Id I'd be sure to see Ree it and not let It Jt get mixed with mine nl meaning to toI toI I I take ake It down l to to the house as soon oon n as could find time for it AnU thus eral more days went by hy and I II I I I Trot the he s1 slipper that and that Mrs I j n 1 n uns wn ns to I r some somo- I 4 I how assumed that Mrs had sense enough to see it was an odd slipper and leave it on the chest where she found It ft but you jou ou never can tell what anybody rill viii do do per per perhaps haps shed she'd have rave done just the same If Id I'd told her not hot to to for she mixed those slippers sUppers up and set them In a arow arow arow row beside e my be bed along with oxford ties ts t's an and bath slippers sUppers It was on the day that tint Mrs 1 Jimm Jimm- son cleaned that Claire came tripping up to see me mp and tell me that her father father father fa fa- ther ha had arrived It was the first time Id I'd seen her since wed we'd parted parte at the cable office and of course I had to spare her a afew afew afew few minutes and hear what she had to say She was staying staving with her fa father ther at nt a hotel mamma hotel mamma yet come because was wis dying every everyday everyday everyday |
