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Show ; 3 I Diamond Cut Diamond 1 U U 13 QUO" Sjj By JANE BUNKER Copyright by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. Cj "A MILLION DOLLARS IN MY STOCKING " Synopsis. While in the little French town of Vevay, where the "statd. proper spinster" who tells the story is spending a vacation, she is asked to allow a young girl, Claire de Ravenol, to be her companion back to the United Stales. Although forming an attachment to the girl, the heroine takes a dislike to Monsieur de Ravenol, Claire's father and declines. On the boat she finds Claire in the care of a casual acquaintance, Mrs. Delario, whom she had met while each was purchasing- a pair of slippers, exactly alike, which figure largely In subsequent events. When they reach New York, where Claire was to have been met by her mother, the latter does not appear, and Claire perforce goes to Mrs. Delario's home. In the confusion at the custom house, the spinster carries off one of Mrs, Delario's slippers. Through that happening she learns later that some one unknown to her has been In her flat. Calling on Mrs. Delario. that lady shows her some remarkable gems, believing them to be rubies, but which are really blood-red diamonds, and easily worth a million dollars. Mrs. Delario admits the gems were smuggled, but offers no explanation. While they are talking, a pounding on the door throws them into consternation. , 1 1 CHAPTER IV. A The Wicked Flee. I confess I was frightened when I thought of the diamonds and only two women alone in the house apparently appar-ently to guard them, but Mrs. Delario Dela-rio was terrified. "These stones" she looked about the room despairingly. "Where can I hide them? And we two women alone in the house " Again the ring a long, long rattle ; whoever it was meant to get in. Followed Fol-lowed a pounding on the door. Mrs. Delario, though deathly white, was now composed and ready to meet the emergency, whatever it was. Mechanically Me-chanically she slippeti the elastic over the box and rose. "I ll go to the door," she decided. "It's better to see who it is, anyway. Perhaps it's only a district messenger. If it isn't if it should be officers 1 hey might break in the door." And with that she whisked up her skirt and tucked the box down into her stocking. I had risen and was preparing to follow her out, feeling she might need me, but she turned and said for me to wait behind the door out of sight and listen. She left me. I heard the front door open just as the pounding began again. She asked, "What is it?" and a man's voice answered, "Does Eugene Delario live here?" She said he did, and demanded de-manded what was wanted of him. The man's voice said, "I must see him at once." And then, to my amazement, I heard her tell the man, "I'm sorry, but you can't tonight; he's sick in bed." "I rather think I can see, him, then," was the retort. "And I will." There followed, well, not quite a scuffle hut a very active shuffling of feet, and the man pushed his way Into the house in spite of her, pushing her aside from the door, which he shut with a bang and a "Now, then." Sensations Sen-sations began to trickle down - my spine. "In which room Is the young man sick?" demanded the voice. ' "I tell you you can't see him 1 refuse re-fuse to let you go upstairs. What right have you forcing yourself into my house this way and demanding to see my sick son?" she asked angrily. "Now, lady, be reasonable and I'll show you," he replied in a tone meant 10 conciliate. I heard a rattle of paper. pa-per. "A warrant !" she gasped. "That's what," he said. "Want to see my badge?" There was a slight rustle as I assumed he showed it tr. her, for she gasped, "An officer a warrant war-rant !" and seemed to sway on the stair. "Now, lady," he began, still conciliating, concili-ating, "you don't want to make any more trouble for yourself than's necessary. nec-essary. I got to do my duty anil It ain't always pleasant but I got to ilo it. It ain't my fault if I got to arrest your son I ain't doing it to spite you. nor him he didn't steal any diamonds off me, you know " "Steal any diamonds!" she Interrupted. Inter-rupted. "He never stole a diamond In his life. Never !" I fancied the man shrugging as he answered, "So much the better for him if he didn't steal them I'm sure I hope for your sake he didn't, though it looks bnd, him trying to sell them to the very parties that knew all about them." "Oh I" and I could see her clinging 10 the banister. She was evidently at a loss what to do. I understood !n a flash what had happened this man or an accomplice was the one who had followed her son home from the Maiden lane dealer's yesterday. He evidently thought he was making headway, for he went on. "Now see here, lady, you take It from me the parties that are pressing press-ing this case don't rare for publicity any more than you do or your son loes 1 -ould ruin low Y If got Into the papers, to sav nothing of his serving serv-ing time for it " "Serving time! My God!" broke from her involuntarily. "Of course he'll serve time if It's proved on him." her visitor assured her. She gave a sob. 1 was wrought up. It was all 1 could do to keep my place anil not join, her and help defy the man; but his next words held me listening. lis-tening. "If he'll give hack the stones he showed yesterday, or tell where he's hid them, I can get this rettled out of court and nnlKjdy will De the wiser if you don't say anything. See?" "It isn't true!" she cried. "My sou never slole a cent's worth of anything in his life." "Here's the warrant." "Arrest him If you will, bin the law will prove him innocent if there's law in the land, and I sometimes doubt it." "Hut hadn't you bettter talk to him first? It won't hurt to hear what he lias 10 say, and if it can be arranged on the quiet " "I shall not talk to him I Do you think I would insult my son by asking him if he stole diamonds?" Followed a silence. Then the man's voice, "Well, if you won't I suppose you won't: But you'll regret it." "I won't." "Then I'll have to do it myself. Which room is he sick in?" "The third floor back but you can't go up," and she planted herself across his way. f saw his hand reach out and remove hers from the banister and as he passed her she sank on the lowest step and began to sob. I may have counted six when Mrs. Delario whipped into the seance room, my coat on her arm. , "Quick you must go," she whispered. whis-pered. "You must hide my diamonds." I gnsped and asked, "How?" "While he's upstairs trying to get into a locked room." She was dragging my coat on my arms and saying at the same time, "It's a fake that man Isn't an officer. I knew it was coming I saw it clair-voyantly clair-voyantly when Eugene came home. Hurry hurry !" "Rut suppose " I began. She cut me short. "You can 1 He doesn't know you're here he didn't see you. You can get away while he's breaking in the door and looking for Eugene. I'll have time to telephone the police. Only go go immediately before he sees you." She whisked up her skirts as she spoke, pulled the box out of her stocking stock-ing and tiirust it in my hands. "1 can't." I felt I simply couldn't take the responsibility. "But they're mine I swear to God they're mine," she cried, evidently thinking the man's words had convinced con-vinced me that the stones were stolen. "They're all I have in the world. If they're found by these scoundrels they'll he stolen from us. Don't you see It? That man's 0 thief." From upstairs came the noise of pounding on doors and the words, "I know you're here, so you may as well open the door." I held the box, too paralyzed to know what to do, but Mrs. Delario had her wits about her if I didn't. "Put It In your stocking and run," she commanded. "Quick your stocking." stock-ing." And I whisked up my skirt, even ns she had done, and stowed the diamonds dia-monds in my stocking. She pushed me out of the seance I room abend of her and we tiptoed to i the vestibule. "Run," she whispered, j "I'm going to scream for help as soon ! as you're out of sight." i In her hurry to get me off she almost 1 pushed me down the steps. Then she j snatched off ner thin slipper, and the i Inst glimpse I got of her as I turned j the corner showed her ramming it into i the crack of the front door to hold it I open. ! What she did next she told me later, j but I may as well put it in here. I ! was out of sight when the man blus tered up to where she stood in the open door, looking up and down the street for somebody to call. "You may as well toll that young man of yours." growled lie, "that if he don't let me In I'll break the door in." "I don't think you will." she said calmly. "Now go." "Not till I get what I came for," lie said, taking hold of the door and trying try-ing to move it and finding it mysteri-ouslv mysteri-ouslv wedged open. "Well, you'll not do that this trip," said she with spirit. "He isn't there and he wasn't there. He was in the'i sitting room at the end of the hall" she pointed to the seance room, the door of which he could see stood open "and while you were troiting upstairs he ran out for a policeman. If you don't believe It wait and see for yourself." At that the fellow seized her arm and tried to pull her hack into the house and shut the door, but found it still wedged open, he could not see wiih what, as he was on the inside. But tli e moment he laid hands on her she began to scream. "Help! Help!" as loudly as ever she could. He didn't wait to see what happened hap-pened as a matter of fact nothing happened, for there wasn't a soul in sight on West End avenue when she screamed. "I'll have a squad of police here myself my-self to 'help' you if that's what you're after." he flung hack as a parting tin eat when he bolted down the slops and disappeared around the same corner cor-ner that had just hidden me. But that was tli e last she heard of him mat night. She pulled her slipper out of the crack and shut the door. Then she went all to pieces and had a cry. As for me, when I left the house, I crossed the street, turned south and into the first cross-street I came to. It seemed as though everybody knew 1 had a million dollars in my stocking and was just waiting to nab me, or hand me over to the next policeman. But as nothing happened I became a little more coherent, though 1 had the feeling I was being followed all the time, yet I couldn't spot my shadow. My whole energy of mind was bent on giving my pursuer the slip. When at last I spied a subway station I jumped off the car, made a bolt of it for the stairs, rushed past the ticket chopper, throwing a nickel Into his box, boarded board-ed a train that fortunately proved to be a north-bound express ; got off at the next station and took a local ; got out and took another express and got out for good when the guard bawled, "Huddn-n-forty-flft," walked round the block where I live, and when there wasn't a living soul in sight ducked into the front door of my apartment house. The elevator was rattling down from upstairs but I didn't wait for it. I tiptoed tip-toed up the stairs, the descending elevator ele-vator drowning the sound of my steps. I lot myself in, put vfp the chain-bolt and took a long breath. Then my knees suddenly crumpled up under ine and I went all to pieces in a heap. It was almost two o'clock before I found strength enough to undress, and I was so dazy I could hardly get my clothes off. While I was doing it I had brief thoughts of keeping on my stocking and taking the diamonds to bed with me; but I decided no there's a limit to one's obligations in a case like this: if burglars come to burgle and have you ever noticed how very near a burglar feels when you have a million dollars in the house? I'll let them burgle. I'll not help, but I'll not hinder; life is too uncertain at Its best. So I set the box on the edge of the dining room table, conveniently, where burglars who were looking for just such a shabby little box filled with diamonds couldn't fail to see it the Instant they jimmied the front door off its hinges, or got In from the fire escape, or crawled up the kitchen dumb waiter, or came down the gas log into the fireplnce. And then I went to bed and slept, expecting to find that box exactly where I put it. CHAPTER V. More Trouble. And I did. For the only time as far as I remember in the whole of this adventure into which I'd been dragged to save a friend, the expected happened. I slept and overslept and waked up feeling drugged and cold and with a dull wonder if I'd dreamed It the night before, and as I came out of my bedroom I saw the box of diamonds just where I'd left It and It gave me a thrill. But I let It lie and took my bath and dressed without with-out going near it. Then I lifted the lid with the feeling that I was bound to find the box empty. And there lay the seven diamonds, just as I had put them back. At this point something dangerously like suspicions of Mrs. Delario began to trickle through my mind. She'd smuggled the diamonds, but how did I know she hadn't stolen them, too? These stones, by the looks of them, never belonged to., any uncle or relative rela-tive Mrs. Delario had in her life they -never belonged to anything less than a grand duke or a prmce, and the fact that she had no idea of their reat value was proof- that she'd come by them in some surreptitious way. Why had I ever brought the things home? Yet how iu common humanity could I have helped it? It was just one of those tilings you've got to do when you do it. But' by the time I'd finished breakfast I had decided that the risks. I ran and the responsibility responsibil-ity to say nothing of (the mystery were one too many for me and I'd wash my hands of the whole thing. So without waiting to hear from her I put on my wraps, stuffed the box in my stocking and went straight to her house. A wild-eyed Swedish girl let me in . and showed me to the reception room, saying that her mistress was "giving a reading and would he out soon," but I waited a good half-hour, ticked off by an ugly, expensive mantel clock, before I heard the seance room door open and the rustle of skirts that told me 1 lie sitter was leaving. Mrs. Delario showed her out and then came into the receptiou room, looking pasty and unnatural. I held the box in my hand, ready for her. When she saw me and it I thought she would faint. "No no don't!" she cried, ns I attempted at-tempted to give it to her. She struggled strug-gled for breath for a few minutes, but regaining her . composure she apologized apolo-gized for the way she'd acted, saying that the shock of the night before had left her unstrung and that seeing the stones again in the house, when she thought they were safe, had been too much for her; and then she told me how she'd foiled the thief the night before and had afterward rushed to the telephone and warned her son who was spending the evening with his fiancee not to come home, but to go to a hotel under an assumed name. Which she hoped he'd done, but didn't know. "Oh, if I could only see If 1 could only see for myself and my dear ones," she burst out. "Like the doctor, I can help others but not myself," and she sank down on the sofa, murmuring: "If I could only see if it were somebody some-body else "No," she said, "people don't understand under-stand except professionals that it's almost impossible for clairvoyants to get anything for themselves, or those very near to them. I can't even read for sitters after I come to know them very well. There's something a kind of a veil comes up " she broke off in her explanation and went to the front door and looked out. "I'm nervous and all unstrung," she excused, coming back and sitting down. I made a motion to give her the box, only to see her draw back with the same frightened look and protesting gesture. "You aren't going to desert me, are you?" she cried. "Oh, please I beg of you I Implore you keep them just a little longer " Trouble follows the trail of the blood-red diamonds. !TO BE CONTINUED.! |