Part 18 (1/2)

”They were taken froht of Dr

Bayard's dinner,--the saht that his porte-monnaie and his beautiful amethyst set were stolen from Mr Holmes I did not tell any one at first, because of Mrs Forrest's prostrated condition, and because at first I suspected her servant Celestine and thought I could force her into restoring the about it Then I couldn't speak of it, for the next discovery I made simply stunned me and made me ill Then, finally, I told Mr Hole You have heard froerly ”I aood, and she is ith exciteed, o that with the prospect of incessant fighting before them it was i me to help Ruth in every way in my power and save her from worry of any kind You see hoas placed

And now, all of a sudden, he is virtually ordered in, he wires erous illness on her part Did you get it for him? I _know_ you did”

Miller and his wife looked at her, then at one another in dumb amaze

What could he say? How could he force hiirl of the cloud of suspicion hich she had been enveloped!

”Tell ain tih of course theyof yours is so beautiful and--well, I must say it all now--costly”

”They were a present from my uncle, Mr Courtlandt,” she answered, si I had The trunk was entered by false keys, and the diamonds were taken out of their locked case and spirited away My first suspicion attached to Celestine and her soldier friend They had been aroused before at Robinson Then ca surprise in reat indecision and distress Now, of course, the inspiration of the villany is captured, thoughconfederate, or possibly principal actor She has been utterly daft the last four days and constantly haunting the post-office for a letter that never coh when she knows the truth,” said Miller, hoarsely ”The scoundrel had a wife in Denver, where he was finally tracked and jailed It was she who offered the dias well, and should have waited, for he had over two hundred dollars,--must have had,--for you and Mr Holmes were not the only losers here”

”Who were the others?” she quickly asked

”Mr Hatton and Mr McLean”

”Mr McLean! Oh, the shame of it!” Miss Forrest paced rapidly up and down the parlor floor, her eyes flashi+ng, her cheeks flushed, her hands nervously twisting the fil utterly foreign to her, and neither Miller nor his wife could understand it Suddenly, as though by uncontrollable impulse, she stopped before and faced them

”Major Miller!” she exclai I had made up my mind to do it yesterday It will not add to my faint popularity here, but I respect you and Mrs Miller I know you are _his_ friends, and I want your advice How am I to make amends to Mr McLean? What am I to say to him? Do you know that for a few days of idiocy I was made to believe that you suspected him of the thefts? and it was his handkerchief I found on the floor behind my trunk What will the man think of me? And yet I _must_ tell him I cannot sit by him day after day, see hi out the words, 'He thinks you are his friend, and you thought him to be a thief'”

It was more than Miller could stand ”Miss Forrest! Miss Forrest!” he exclaimed, as his wife sank into an easy-chair and hid her face in her hands ”You cover me with shame and confusion Never in my life have I heard of so extraordinary a complication as this has been! never have I been so worried and distressed! My dear young lady, try and hear ainst than sinning A few hours ago Dr Bayard--he who led you in your suspicions, for he told me so--left here crushed and humbled to find that he had been so blind and unjust But I would gladly exchange places with hih to be made to look with other's eyes and not rave suspicion, but nothing as compared with that which surrounded another,--a woman as entitled to our utmost sympathy and protection because her natural protector was in the field far from her side,--a wo officers,--McLean and Hatton,--God bless 'e until it was dragged from theible piece of evidence against her She was at Robinson last winter, andSilken skirts were heard trailing in dark hall-ways at night; her form was seen in the room of the plundered officers The stories followed her to Laraht McLean and Hatton were robbed her silken skirts were heard trailing up the north hall of Bedlaallery Her handkerchief was found at McLean's bureau, and, while they were all waiting for her at Mrs Gordon's, McLean himself collided with a feminine shape in the darkness out on the parade, and it slipped aithout a word as though fearing detection The night of the robbery at Bayard's she was alone up-stairs Another night she was seen entering the hall-ithout ringing the bell or knocking at the door

Another evening I, as in the Bayards' library, listened for tento pick the lock and make a secret entrance while Elinor was confined to her room and the doctor was known to be a quarter of afor the thief to effect an entrance and per out upon the piazza and found--you Then that night I strove to see Hatton and wring fro on in Bedlaly, h hiht to conceal; and, though I thank God I was utterly iveness, Miss Forrest It was I who urged that your brother be sent here at once, though the general believes it was on Mrs Forrest's account, that he ht put an end to these peculations and restore what property could be recovered froreater than all the others put together and never said a word about it”

And poor Miller, who had never ly away Then Mrs Miller spoke, and Miss Forrest's dilated eyes were turned slowly from the major's bulky shape to the one face that appeared from behind the handkerchief Miss Forrest's cheeks had paled and her lips were parted She had seized and was leaning upon the back of a chair, but not one word had she spoken As Mrs Miller's voice was heard, it seeht about a decided frown upon her white forehead, but she listened in utter silence

”Indeed, Miss Forrest, you musn't blaainst you--if--if it hadn't been for ainst you had it not been for those letters from Robinson They--they----”

And here Mrs Miller had recourse to her handkerchief, and Miss Forrest stretched forth her hand as though to urge her say no more There was intense silence in the parlor a h the open s came the sudden sound of a scuffle, a wos in Celestine's familiar tones, and the rush ofthither, the allery The sergeant of the guard, lantern in hand, onderingly conte to the wrist of the struggling, swearing girl, despite her adjurations to let her go Other men fro what to say, for Lachlan contented hirasp until the major bade him do so, but instantly renewed it as his prisoner atte to the scene from the direction of the doctor's quarters just as Miss Forrest, too, appeared, and hi in the bureau, sir”

And then Miss Forrest's quiet voice was heard as soon as thehad silenced the loud protestations and accusations of the negress

”It is as we supposed, ave her last winter”

An hour later Celestine was locked in a rooeant Flynn” organized an Auard of heroines, who, like herself, had followed the drum for many a year; who assured the major the prisoner would never escape from their clutches, and whose ht”

XX

Confessions, of various sorts, were the order of the day at Lara the week that followed this iht of accusation was at an end Parsons, the deserter, led off the day after his return to the post under escort of the little squad sent down from Terry's troop to meet him at Cheyenne He was stubborn and silent at first, but when told by the corporal of the guard that Celestine had ”gone back on him the iven him away,” he concluded that it was time to deny some of the accusations heaped upon his head by the furious victiirl had indeed obeyed his beck and will, and shi+elded him even in the days of suspense that followed his desertion; but no word can describe the rage of her jealousy, the fury of her hate, the recklessness of her tongue when she found that he had used her only as a tool to enrich another woman,--his laife