ted to throw it away,
as it had belonged to her father, and she prized it highly. With the
cunning that she had exhibited throughout, she conceived the idea of
hiding it in one of the tassels upon the handle of her umbrella.

"These tassels, as you perhaps know, are usually made of round bits of
wood, enclosed in a covering of knitted silk. The girl removed one of
the wooden balls, and having embedded the ring in a ball of black
sealing wax, put it in place of the wooden one. It was a most ingenious
hiding place, and one extremely unlikely to be discovered."

"How did you happen to discover it, Mr. Duvall?" Mrs. Morton asked.

"In this way. When my wife called my attention to the spots of black wax
on the tray of the candlestick, I saw at once that a far larger amount
of the wax had been melted than would have been required in making an
ordinary seal. The impressions on the warnings the woman sent were very
small and flat, so as to readily be inserted in the envelopes containing
the letters without being bulky, or becoming broken while passing
through the mails. But here were spots of the wax that had dripped down
as large as a silver quarter and larger. What, I wondered, had caused
the woman to melt so large a quantity of wax?

"I attempted to put myself in her place and to think what she would do
to hide the seal ring. The idea of embedding it in a ball of the wax
occurred to me. But, having done this, what would she do with the ball?
It was not an easy thing to hide; in her purse, her satchel, it would
have attracted attention at once. Then I noticed the round black
ornaments hanging from her umbrella, with their silken cords and
tassels. What better place to hide the ball of wax?

"In order to test my theory, I twice attempted to take the umbrella from
her on our way here, as though to relieve her of the trouble of carrying
it. In both instances she drew back at once, and refused to allow the
umbrella to leave her possession. This action on her part convinced me
that my guess had been a correct one. The subsequent finding of the ring
broke down her assurance. As you know, she has made a complete
confession."

"Poor woman," Ruth Morton remarked. "What are you going to do with her?"

"That rests with you, Miss Morton. If you decide to prosecute you can
readily do so. The penalty for sending threatening letters through the
mails is not a light one. And her attack upon you, under the
circumstances, is a very seri