ything 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 came this
stunning surprise in my discovery next day, and a week of great
indecision and distress. Now, of course, the inspiration of the villany
is captured, though more than ever do I suspect Celestine as being
confederate, or possibly principal actor. She has been utterly daft the
last four days and constantly haunting the post-office for a letter
that never comes."

"She will be wild enough 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 diamonds in pawn. They
did not manage things 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 flashing, her cheeks flushed, her hands
nervously twisting the filmy handkerchief she carried. Her excitement
was something 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 exclaimed, "I must tell you something. 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 him, speak with him, and have my heart hammering 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 you