a trifle slack and, though he handed the trinket
back, he told her distinctly that she was not to wear it till it had
been either to Tiffany's or Starr's. But she considered it safe enough,
and put it on to please the boys, and lost it. Senator Burton is a hard
man and,--in short, the jewel must be found. I give you just one hour in
which to do it."

"But, madam--" I protested.

"I know," she put in, with a quick nod and a glance over her shoulder to
see if the door was shut. "I have not finished my story. Hearing what
Harrison had to say, I took action at once. I bade him call in the
guests, whom curiosity or interest still detained on the porch, and seat
them in a certain room which I designated to him. Then, after telling
him to send two men to the gates with orders to hold back all further
carriages from entering, and two others to shovel up and cart away to
the stable every particle of snow for ten feet each side of the front
step, I asked to see Mr. Deane. But here my son whispered something into
my ear, which it is my duty to repeat. It was to the effect that Mr.
Deane believed that the jewel had been taken from him; that he insisted,
in fact, that he had felt a hand touch his breast while he stood
awaiting an opportunity to seize the horse. 'Very good,' said I, 'we'll
remember that, too; but first see that my orders are carried out and
that all approaches to the grounds are guarded and no one allowed to
come in or go out without permission from me.'

"He left us, and I was turning to encourage Mrs. Burton when my
attention was caught by the eager face of a little friend of mine, who,
quite unknown to me, was sitting in one of the corners of the room. She
was studying my countenance in a sort of subdued anxiety, hardly
natural in one so young, and I was about to call her to my side and
question her when she made a sudden dive and vanished from the room.
Some impulse made me follow her. She is a conscientious little thing,
but timid as a hare, and though I saw she had something to say, it was
with difficulty I could make her speak. Only after the most solemn
assurances that her name should not be mentioned in the matter, would
she give me the following bit of information, which you may possibly
think throws another light upon the affair. It seems that she was
looking out of one of the front windows when Mr. Deane's carriage drove
up. She had been watching the antics of the horse attached to the buggy,
but as so