Show am wa W M by sara ware bassett copyright by the th penn pub co W 1411 sonvico CHAPTER XII continued 16 1 I shall be I 1 never appreciated appreciate chortle until now I 1 was too silly vain feather headed I 1 have realized it since kno knowing Ning marcia we all want to be different after we have bare seen marcia stanley neath heath said gently we dont just want to be we set about it was wag the girls grove grave reply sit down sylvia and let us talk of 0 marcia ventured heath after a pause 1 I am deeply sorry if I 1 have wounded her ber indeed I 1 ani am the girl searched his face 1 I cannot understand you mr neath heath she said what has marda done that you should have left her as you did she beloved bel eved in ID you through thick and thin stood up for you against esery everybody body going it blind at that few women would hae baye had such faith in a stranger 1 I realize that you do not need to tell me he answered it Is precisely because she has gone so far I 1 believed her capable of going farther yet the whole way what do you mean by the whole aholt way to the end well she he shoot shook his head no she has fallen short disappointed me cruelly when it came to the final test her affection collapsed oh she has been wonderful he be added quickly do not think I 1 tail fall to appreciate preci ate that she has far out dis danced every other woman I 1 ever have known I 1 simply expected too much of her doubtless the imp impossible possible os sible human nature Is frail a womans comans heart the frailest thing of all a J I 1 have always said so you wrong marcia cried sylvia hotly iler her heart Is not frail neither ne ither Is she the weak sort of person you have pictured in all the world you could not match her loyalty or the depth of her affection it if after tho the experience we three have lived ahr through ough together you have not discovered wh what the le Is it Is futile for me to attempt to t show you you came into our lives like a meteor entirely detached from everything we knew nothing about you and in the face of damaging evidence yau offered neither marcia nor me one word of explanation marcia asked none without rhyme or reason she believed in you I 1 had not her faith I 1 freely confess I 1 thought you guilty oh I 1 liked you cufr sufficiently well to be ready to help you save your skin sidn tut but marcia cared elou enough h for you to want you to save your soul when you were taken ill we both nursed you I 1 willingly she devotedly here lay another difference had you been able to detect it what happened as a result of this enforced intimacy you know know far better than V I 1 1 I fell in love with marcia replied the man without an instants hesitation you tell fell in lovel love I 1 sylvia repeated her lip curling you call it loye love the poor thing you offered herl why marcia ifould have gone to the worlds end with you stanley heath had she the right she would have faced any humiliation hum illation for your sake it if prison doors closed upon you she would have remained faithful until they swung open and afterward followed you to any corner of the earth in which you chose to begin a new tire life where youre wrong sylvia contradicted heath barcla was not ready to do that I 1 tried her out and she refused when I 1 told her I 1 should return to her and asked her in so wany many words whether she was wag willing to face shame and public scorn for my sake she turned her back on me she could not go to that length are you sure she understood asked sylvia stepping nearer and looking fearlessly into his eyes there la ij a shame marcia never in this world would tare face for any man but it Is not the shame you have just described it Is the shame of wronging another woman destroying a home in the villages where we ne have been brought up we e believe in marriage as a sacred enduring sacrament riot not a bond to be lightly broken when you offered marcia less than that 1 I never offered marcia barcla any such shameful position sylvia cried stanley heath 1 I would not so tar far insult her but yon are married that Is a lie ile who told you so go the the wire to mrs stanley ileath heath the telephone message I 1 heard you call her joan put nut sylvia mrs stanley neath heath Is not my wife she Is my young stepmother my fathers widow I 1 always alwayn have called her joan oh ob I 1 I 1 beg your pardon 1 I see it all now the man explained you have entirely misunderstood the situation im a junior since my rathers fathers death however people have got out of the way of using the term sometimes I 1 myself am careless about it IL so marcia thought of course she did we both did how were we to know sylvia demanded how flow indeed if an innocent citi fua cannot visit a town without beans abeln arrested as a criminal within a wee week if f his arrival why he be mariel without his bis knowledge cir evidence can apparently ari ai I 1 i 1 air it i ny lie fie threw back his n 1 I 1411 i little sylvia bless you jou for setting me right I 1 told you yon you were a brick and youve proved it thanks to you everything la Is now straightened str out here give me ine your hand how flow am I 1 to thank you for what you have done I 1 only hope that young horatio fuller of yours realizes what a treasure he Is getting ile he does I 1 sir mr heath he does observed that gentleman strolling at the same instant through the door and encircling his tiny bride to be with his big arm I 1 traveled halt half way across this big country of ours to marry her oh were not going to be married yet Il hortie ortle demurred the girl trying to wrench herself free of the big fellows hold certainly we are my dear I 1 toil tell you this morning I 1 came to get married I 1 was perfectly serious dail gave me two months vacation with that understanding I 1 must either produce a wife when I 1 get home or lose my job looks to me as it if you had mr fullers future prosperity in your hands sylvia reath heath said she has she can make or break me A big responsibility eh little sylvia 1 I know it bortle retorted the girl seriously she la is equal to it fuller never tear fear stanley heath asserted im not doing any worrying smiled horatio 1 I the sentence was cut short by the radios loudspeaker the much sought long island gem thief was captured this morning at his lodgen lodgings s in jersey city harris chalmers allas alias jimmie ohara a paroled prisoner was taken by the police at his bis room on K street A quantity of loot together with firearms and tho the missing jewels were found concealed in the apartment the man readily admitted the theft ile he has a long prison record per for a second nobody spoke then as if prompted by common impulse the three on the piazza rushed indoors ellsha ellelia was sitting limply before the radio did you hear bear that he gasped well rather ra therl I 1 horatio fuller shouted with a triumphant wave of his hand band aint it 1 the venteree bea ben teree explode eipl odel ll the astonished sheriff that sends the whole case up in the air all needed now to make me out the darn dest tool fool on gods earth Is tor for El eazers young nephew lawyer in new york chos checking up heaths deaths story to wire everything there Is 0 K it if he does ill go bury my head there goes the telephone honel 1 him eleazer ill bet a hat hello yes I 1 heard beard it IL you aint surprised wal I 1 am im took oft off my feet oh your nephew wired did he an every things 0 ka K that abeln the case I 1 reckon theres no more mor e to be said I 1 feel like a shrimp low how do you feel ellsha hung bung up the receiver wal sir mr heath the story you told eleazer an me is straight as a string in every particular he announced youre freel there aint I 1 can say to tell you im sorry aint in no way adequate just have to set me down as one of them P pud uddin headed beaded idiots that was over am bilious to do his d duty uty 0 7 11 braae at 11 V it wat was outrageous of you insulting to leave a thing of this sort for marcia 1 I shall not let it go at that mr winslow stanley heath acclaimed stepping to the old mans side and seizing his palm in a strong grip we all make errors forget JL it im going to besides you have treated me like u d prince since ive been your guest you are the prince sir air livial with you has shown me that will wal anyhow all aint been lost at least ive met a thoroughbred an that aint none too frequent an occurrence in these days what 1 I cant understand mr wins low Is why you he was a thoroughbred from the be beginning horatio fuller remarked youve a right to berate me young man a perfect right I 1 aint boid td W put up no defense the circumstances that blinded me besides I 1 had only a single glimpse of mr heath that after he was took sick I 1 never saw him again had we got cot acquainted as we have now every thing would a been different them jewels great hat bat man mant I 1 I 1 had bad a diamond ring in my pocket when I 1 came to wilton hut but that prove id stolen IV it 1 I 1 knowl I 1 knowl acquiesced the tha sheriff sherl ll eleazer an me lost our bear ins entirely we got completely turned round A thief with a phi beta kappa keyl key 1 jeered horatio godfrey I 1 then turning to sylvia he added in an undertone well so far as I 1 can see the only person who has kept her head through this affair Is our aunt barcla ellsha overheard the final clause thava right 1 he agreed with jor cordiality dia lity the widders headpiece head piece can always be relied upon to stay steady whose headpiece head bead piece inquired stanley heath puzzled by the term marceas Mar clas here in town we call her the well not have the opportunity to call her that much longer heath laughed you dont tell mel me I 1 ellsha regarded him openmouthed open mouthed humph 1 so how the wind blows Is it will wal I 1 can see this mix un eill would a ended ray my chances anyway marclan Mar clad never have had roe me after this disappointed ns as I 1 am though theres a sight of comfort in knowin she wont have eleazer neither tie ile dont come out of the a whit battern bet tern me in fact its a healt CHAPTER XIII intense as was the joy of the three persons who a little later set out toward the homestead in the old yellow dory they were a silent trio too much of seriousness had bad happened bened during the morning for them to dispel its aftermath lightly horatio putting pulling at the oars cars was wag unusually earnest sylvia turned the ring on her finger reflectively and stanley heath looked far out over the water too deep in thought to be conscious of either of them when however the boat swung into the channel sylvia spoke If bortle ortle and I 1 are not coming with you mr heath she said we will stay behind only do please promise me one thing do not tell marcia the whole story before we have a chance chanca to hear bear it there are ever so many connecting links I 1 am curious beyond words to have you supply such as the jewels in the first place I 1 can hardly wait to have that mystery solved stanley laughed the jewels are no mystery at all I 1 can satisfy your mind about dhosi here and now they were joans mrs heaths deaths Heat hs her maid corinne Co rinDe took feet them and disappeared soon afterward purely by accident I 1 met paul latimer a friend who lives on long island and during the course of our conversation he asked if I 1 knew a good man servant saying that jullen julien their butler had just given notice thit that he be was to be married to corinne Corl the new parlor maid and return with her to france the womans comans name instantly caught my attention why I 1 do a bit 0 or f sleuthing on my own account thus far the detectives joan and I 1 had hired had made no headway at locating the jewels why I 1 have a try at it myself 7 1 I got a boat and cruised along to the latimers ladders at whose hous I 1 had frequently stayed and with the habits of whose household I 1 was familiar sly my plan was to arrive early in the morning before the family was astir and catch the alone at her work should she prove to be our corinne Corl I 1 would boldly confront her with the theft and demand the jewels if on the other hand band she turned out to be another person altogether it would be perfectly easy to explain my presence pre senca senea by fallan falling back on my acquaintance with paul it seemed on thinking the matter over that this would be a far more considerate course anyway than to drag in the detectives not only because I 1 had no real evidence to present to them but also because of my friendship for the latimers Lati and for jullen julien who had been in their employ many years I 1 knew they esteemed him very highly and would be dreadfully cut up should they find him involved in a an n altair affair as unpleasant as this one besides I 1 felt practically certa certain in he I 1 had ill had nothing to do with the crime lie he was too fine one of the old fashioned devoted type of servant to shame such a man and throw suspicion on him if he were blameless would be a pity especially just on the eve of his big resigning from service it might mean that instead of leaving with the gratitude and goodwill good will of his employers he might be sent away under a cloud I 1 did not wish that to happen well my scheme worked to a dot 1 I reached the ladders Lad mers unobserved found corinne alone straightening u up the library faced her and demanded the jewels the instant she saw me she knew the game was up and without more ado produced the gems from her pocket shouldering all the blame jullen julien she protested knew nothing of the theft ile he was a self respecting honest man should he be told of what she had done it would end everything between them she loved him indeed it was as because of him she had committed the crime it proved they had bad been engaged some time and long before had bad agreed to save their money and sometime pool it so they might hn married and buy a little home in franc 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