where? On her
person or hidden in some of her belongings? I remembered the cloak in
the closet and thought it wise to assure myself that the jewel was not
secreted in this garment, before I proceeded to extreme measures. Mrs.
Ashley, upon being consulted, agreed with me as to the desirability of
this, and presently I had this poor girl's cloak in my hands.

Did I find the ruby? No; but I found something else tucked away in an
inner pocket which struck me as bearing quite pointedly upon this case.
It was the bill--crumpled, soiled and tear-stained--of the dress whose
elegance had so surprised her friends and made me, for a short time,
regard her as the daughter of wealthy parents. An enormous bill, which
must have struck dismay to the soul of this self-supporting girl, who
probably had no idea of how a French dressmaker can foot up items. Four
hundred and fifty dollars! and for one gown! I declare I felt indignant
myself and could quite understand why she heaved that little sigh when
Mr. Deane spoke of the five hundred dollars he expected from Mrs.
Burton, and later, how she came to succumb to the temptation of making
the effort to secure this sum for herself when, in following the
latter's footsteps up the driveway, she stumbled upon this same jewel
fallen, as it were, from his pocket into her very hands. The impulse of
the moment was so strong and the consequences so little anticipated!

It is not at all probable that she foresaw he would shout aloud his loss
and draw the whole household out on the porch. Of course when he did
this, the feasibility of her project was gone, and I only wished that I
had been present and able to note her countenance, as, crowded in with
others on that windy porch, she watched the progress of the search,
which every moment made it not only less impossible for her to attempt
the restoration upon which the reward depended, but must have caused her
to feel, if she had been as well brought up as all indications showed,
that it was a dishonest act of which she had been guilty and that,
willing or not, she must look upon herself as a thief so long as she
held the jewel back from Mr. Deane or its rightful owner. But how face
the publicity of restoring it now, after this elaborate and painful
search, in which even the son of her hostess had taken part?

That would be to proclaim her guilt and thus effectually ruin her in the
eyes of everybody concerned. No, she would keep the compromising articl