hts ers
lyw iliam . 1) Insult.-m4loAt
Johnston T.,owro.-., . lrwi*nmym
(Continued from Last Week.)
CHAPTER II.-On his way to the Gas
ton apartment next Sunday Nelson again
meets his accidental acquaintance of a
few days before, Barbara Bradford. She
urges him not to allow the fact of their
being acquainted to be known. At the
apartment Nelson moots the superintend
ent, Wick, and Instinctively dislikes him.
In a wall safe he finds a necklace of
magnificent pearls, worth a small fortune.
Meeting Barbara in the hallway she
passes him without recognition. Dining
in a restaurant he is conscious of the un
pleasant scrutny of a stranger, but a
wan whom he had seen before.
WiTh treiablig hands I restored the
jewels to their hiding place, twice test
Ing the knob to make sure tit the
combination had set. The unexpected
Sight of such a vast fortune In gems
had filled me with strange emotions,
'with thoughts so evil I hardly dared
admit them to myself. There must
bave been nearly half a million dollars'
worth of precious stones In that one
-casket. The Gaston pearls In them
'selves were a fortune.
If only they were minel
To every honest man at times come
temptations as great as come to any
-criminal. No man knows whether or
meot he is honest until he has been put
'to the test. I knew I I was tempted,
-strongly tempted, to take my great
taunt's jewels. What was to hinderl
'The old couple wetre to be absent for
'months. They had left me in charge
land had given me their keys and the
safe combination. There would he
nbundant time for disposing of the
jewels before their theft was discov
'ered. With the money they would
bring I could satisfy my craving fom
adventure. I could travel the world
.over.
.et, as I look back at it, all the
tine I was thinking these thoughts,
knew I would not take the jewels. A
normal man cannot steal. lEven wheit
his desires lead hin to theft, his min
points out the folly and his conselenc
the wrong.
e Resolutely I put the thought of th
jewels out of my head-or tried to
and stretching myself out on a colic
gave myself up to pleasant reverie
about my delightful new acquaintanc
ithe girl wv'ho lived just across the hal
1f pictured myself finding some way
,winning her conildence and of helpir
'her out of her mysterIous trouble. Ar
what If eventually Old Rufus Shnul
,make me his heir? Surely I N'ou
need a inae with whomi to asbe t
joys of having 1k rt . With y
Ions of Blrba't r tiradford bedeck
with my grpt-un'ohoestjw
fe'll lfls,' V# .Llln choicest jewe,
IX fell sep
* 'was almost dusk when I w
awakened by the arrival of the (
pressman with may trunks. After
had receipted for them and had v
packed, I suedlenly realized that I u
hungry, for I had enten nothing sit
breakfast. Hastily I donned r
clothes, stopping only to count I
'money. With a week's salary In i
pocket and no room rent to pay f
severnl months, surely I could affo
1a good dinner to celebrate the char
In my fortunes.
As I went out I stopped in the low
hii to ebat with the telephone g
ostensibly to ask her to take any mw
sages for me, though I was expectl
noine.
"You're Mr. Nelson, ain't you?" s
asked, eyeing me with curious inter
"Yest" I replied, "Mr. Spalding N
son. I am occupying the Gaston apa
ment while they are away."
A ilecker of amusement crossedl 1
face, with just the suggestion 01
"I hope you'll enjoy living here.
"Why not?" I replied carelessly.
any one calls, any that I will he ht'
by ten. Miss-"
"Nellie Kelly," she added,
As I chatted with her the elevi
had descended again, and three
sons emerged, one of them being
for a sight of whom I had been int
tionally loitering. One of the
persons with her was plainly
mother and the other I tooke to be
o1(der sistem'. She resembled Bai
stroingly, b~ut there was a wor'ld-wm
look in her face, and her beauty s(
edi to mae to he imnrrecd by a w
sensItive, pasiS~onafte mouth. R1i
had no eyes for lher, so absorbed
I in the appeiaance of the girl I
met In the park. If I had tho
her beautiful then, she was ravis
now. Ioer raven hair was piled
andl caught hack with a great Spri
comb. An ermine-trimmned eve
coat of brocadle swathed her flj
opeining at the front just enoug
give ime a glimpse of her bared s
neck. Involuntarily imy hand wvel
my hat, hut into her eyes car
haughty look and one hand wvem
her lips for just a second, as 11
were warning me again not to r
nize her. I stood there abashie
she swept by me to the waiting ii
The telephone girl's voice jarre
back to muy senses.
"I thought you was a friend c
Biradfor.'.," she said sarcastienl3
"Sure he is," said the voice o
WVick behind mile. "Didn't you
the boys telling me he came in
,with. Mlas Biradford?".. ....
"Well, what of it?" I answered
lamely and(] fled from the house, indig
nant at this open prying of the em
ployees Into my affairs, yet entirely
at a loss. to know how to stop it. How
could I tell them I knew Itarlara
Bradford, when she had Just cut me
dead?
Feeling vaguely dissntisfIed with
mlly first day iI my new home, I hoard
ed a 'hus and rode downtown to a
little lFreneh enfe. where my coinrailes
ind I hiad been iccustomied to go
when we were in fumnls. All about
mie were inerry Sunday evening (in
ner parties. and I was alone. Ilirge
and loller hd gone, and MIss IBrad
ford had refused to recognize me. I
liurried through my dinner, pid ily
-heek. iind wits lenving the resaurant
IIeIt II corner 1tble I spied the
'n-.-f.mNed iman whom I had seen in the
. 1 O w eveninmgs before.
lie l11oied 1p and caught imy glance.
ito hlhl. Iuive vamie a strange exprea
.41n. .1 14ook of nialignant hate, not in
:ningl'i with fear. I3old1Vy I returned
his gaze. I was tempted to walk right
up to hi:m and14 ask him what he had
been udoing in the park, and why he
had warned Iis mate away w'hen he
saw ie there. Yet I had no right to
interfere. miss Bradford had not
tiien ile into her confidence. I had
only suspielons to go on that tite two
men had been there to attempt somte1
wrong on tite girl.
Slowly I left the restaurant, puzzled
more titan ever by the malevolent
glance ie had given me, and perplexed
as to how I was going to serve Anst
Bradford, whe she would not evei
recognize me.
CHAPTER MN.
My great-aunt's pearls were gone
stolen-vanished from tite wall safeI
Still discrediting the evl(ence of m;
own eyes, I lighted a match and pee,
ed into the steel-lined recess. It wa
riempty. On the table beside me wa
one of the twQ jewel boxes it ha
contained, the one filled with wortl
less trinkets. The -other, which ha
contained 'the prteless Gaston pearl
and the o6ther -1ch treasure, Id Val
Saturday. Six days b
d 10 Ai had arrived in the apartmer
te There had been two jewel cases the
Is- With my own hands I had put the
d both back safe in their hiding pla<
s. I recalled having tested the knob
make sure that the combination it
as set. Yet since that time someone hi
. opened the safe. Someone had I
m moved the jewels. Who could it ha
n- been?
as To the best of my knowledge the
ce had been but two persons in t
iy rooms, old Mrs. Burke, my aun
Iy trusted laundress, and myself. C
ny tainly I had not taken the jewels, a
or it seemed absurd to suspect M
rd Burce, who had been in Mrs. Gasto1
go employ for years and had long be
entrusted with a key to tie servni
er entrance. Yet who else was there
rl, suspect?
s- Recovering a little from my ber
ag derment I hastened to the telephol
I must notify the superintendent a
he also tle police that the apatment I
st. been robbed. I decided, too, thait
j- should wire my greatimele Itufus
rt- the robbery, and then it dawned
me for the first time that I did 1
%or know the old couple's address. TI
a merely had sald that they were go
to AMaine. Never mindl, there v
nothintg that they could (10 In ti
"If absence. Probably I could get Ut
me1 add~ress fronm the superintendlent,
from Mir. Gaston's baitkers. The f
thing to do was to notify the sui
tor intendent.
Ier But wait! With my hand on
site telephone, I stopped short. It dan
en- ed on me thtat in all likelihoodl I we
two be0 the one mtost undter suspion.
the If detectives were called in. I ec
ant see that thteir first move would ht
nra lay the theft to niy door. Thtey w<
ary investigate everythting about mte,
emi- I remtembered with distress thtal
mik, Spalding Nelson, just nowv was ou
t I a job-and far worse, stood disert
was ed at thte~oniy place of employmne
had had had in Newv York.
ighit Miy dischtarge had come that
lung morning like a thutndlerboit out
itigh clear sky. Thte reason for my
nlh emtptory dismiissal I had not been
ning to fathtom. In some1 mysterious f
ure, Iion my employer's wrath hadI
Ito roused toward me, Whty, I could
~hite inmgine. Certainly my life, espec
t to ,ince my two comrades had~
10 a away, had been circumspect enr
t to Even thtough.I was living it a si
she thousand-dollar apartment I was
co-employed, all but penniloss, just
1I as cently diismnissedi for somo unexph
otor. reason, and nowv more thtan likel
i mie be accused or at least suispecte
thieft
f the Yet only this very morning I
been taking an optimistic view of
Mir. Delighted at having cut my livin
hear penses i two, I had decided tQ
twice
,(Continued on 'Page NIne.)
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wol'tagetpoutinok03-e03