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Show I m Uhe 'Bracelet. H Jfi H In tho loot which Lieutenant Appleton had B Si ' ; brought from the Philippines was a bracelet which H j his fiancee, Marion Peystor claimed as her special H JE ft own oy right of conquest. It was composed of ijk tf little enameled beetles joined by tiny golden ij I chains. jtjj jF It was not that Miss Peyster had not already ! "' jowels enough and to spare, but she delighted in what was rare and curious and the bracelet was certainly both. "It is simply unique," she exclaimed, letting tho little insects slide over her fingers and enjoying the changing lights on the enamel, shifting from . -, ,. green to crimson and from flame to color to pur- H Iff $ ple' like a numminS bird's breast. "Where did Hj m V you ever get such a lovely thing, Philip?" Hil ml "Oh, this was in the collection of an old Don 1 I, '' in Manila. He had a whole museum of rarities. 1 w, 'Si Ho fled when the Americans came, and my quar-Bw quar-Bw jfl $ ers happened to be in .his house. You never saw IH (it -f such furniture as he had. Solid mahogany and so If ij I jr1 heavy you could hardly move it. The writing table Hw jji I where I used to indite my little missives to you IS fV'W was wor-n a fortune." Hp jj fj i "I wonder what the workmanship of this is," jj J jjg continued Marion, still toying with her bracelet. II '( f , "It might be old Italian. Somehow it reminds me BR 'i i fl of Benvenuto Celini." H jj ;' f "Reminds you?" laughed Philip, "why, when did Bl. ', ?tl you have any acquaintance with the old duffer?" B '" $ Ja "Oh, Phil for shame!" cried Marion, "I mean BC aw reminds me of things I've read about him. You BD j j I know the lovely gold and silver things he used to BB ; j& make." Hi ; jj, "No, I don't know much about the old gent," BIj j I if replied the irreverent Philip. "But come, Marion, II 1 you promised to sins for me." Bl' j! L Marion put the lovely bracelet carefully away III ttl n ner ewel kx She longed to wear it, but some-EH some-EH H !? now sne cou nt 3ust m&ke up her mind. It did Iff (IP 1 not seem su any o ner costumes, and besides Hh )$ e -tle beetles had tiny golden claws that Bj j f scratched her ever so little when she put the trink-fH trink-fH 4 ' !f e on an( Marion thought they might prove rather HI I i ,f destructive to her faces if they should become on-Bjl on-Bjl u tangled. H j JOjl: The engagement progressed as engagements do, H jp i with just enough quarreling and making up to H I 'if break the monotony of a too perfect happiness, B j $ I and at last the wedding was but a fortnight off. H & ' 1 There was to be a family dinner one evening. B , i j i Marion had just donned a new gown, one of soft, Hi ' ', clinging wool, palo green in color. Around the j j , ! f$j J ' skirt were inserts of black jeweled lace in flower HI i r j ' patterns. ' The corsage garnitures were black lace H i I I and black velvet bows. Strange to say, none of HI fj'! her jewels seemod to suit her. "I ought to have Wm ; l ft opals," she said, "but I have always believed them H1 1 ,fjg unlucky. Let mo see, here is Philip's bracelet the HI hai'f one with the beetles. I wonder how it would do. Hi; ljj The very thing! See, how perfectly it suits." n tip J So saying she clasped it on, and held up her Iff j w arm in its sleeve that she might admire the play HB 1 of light on the glittering scarabei. Sure enough, HI I j tho bracelet seemed to complete her costume won- H I ' derfuliy. Iff m ! "It is a little early yet and I am tired. I shall Bli ' rest a little while before I go down, and while I am HPgjjw'; waiting I can read another chapter of my book." HuHSi j So Marion sank into an easy chair and took up Bb !jlgj her novel. She would not have admitted to her- B I 11 self that she did not want to meet her voluble BR I m 1 aunts and cousins till the last minute, and pre- Hj j E ferred to wait upstairs as long as she could, at Bl I HI least until it was time for Philip to arrive. B 1 Kff Little by little a dreamy feeling began to steal BH SB over her face. She seemed Binklng down, down, H I Mm into a great depth. She could feel the little golden HH fljff claws of the beetles pricking her arm. She tried m! to take off the bracelet. She could not move her HI Umbs, he tried to cry out, "Mama! Philip!" but her lips were dumb. There was a noise like rushing rush-ing water in her ears, and yet she could hear her lover's step and his ring at the street door. Down stairs they were saying, "What keeps Marion? Why does she not come down?" A maid was sent to call her. Marion was in her easy chair, her eyes closed. The book had fallen from her lap. "Miss Marion, are you asleep? They are waiting wait-ing for you." There was no answer. The girl went up and touched her. The next moment all the household came rushing in at her shriek. When they came to disrobe Marion, they found the little golden feet of the beetles embedded in the flesh, and under each tiny claw, a little purple pur-ple speck. The doctor ridiculed the idea of the bracelet's beipg poisoned. Heart disease was the cause of death. Still, when the doctor asked for the trinket they willingly gave it to him. He keeps it under lock and key, and only shows it to his most trusted confidants. "One of those - curious things you read about," he says. "It might have belonged to one of the Medici or the Borgias." Irene Connell, in San Francisco Town Talk. |