Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West
The
collection embraced the rarest and most valuable pearls known to exist."
"And you accuse this man, Andrews, of stealing them?" asked Uncle John,
tapping with his finger the portrait he still held.
"By no means, sir; by no means!" cried Le Drieux hastily. "In fact, he
was one of the few guests at the villa to whom no suspicion attached.
From the moment the casket of pearls was last seen by the countess until
their loss was discovered, every moment of Andrews' time was accounted
for. His alibi was perfect and he was quite prominent in the unsuccessful
quest of the thief."
"The pearls were not recovered, then?"
"No. The whole affair is still a mystery. My friend in Vienna, a pearl
merchant like myself, assisted Andrews in his endeavor to discover the
thief and, being much impressed by the young man's personality, sent me
this photograph, asking me to meet him, as I have told you, when he
reached America."
"Is his home in this country?"
"New York knows him, but knows nothing of his family or his history. He
is popular there, spending money freely and bearing the reputation of an
all-around good fellow. On his arrival there, a year ago, he led a gay
life for a few days and then suddenly disappeared. No one knew what had
become of him. When I found him here, under the name of A. Jones, the
disappearance was solved."
"I think," said Uncle John, "you are laboring under a serious, if
somewhat natural, mistake. The subject of this picture is like A. Jones,
indeed, but he is older and his expression more--more--"
"Blase and sophisticated," said Patsy.
"Thank you, my dear; I am no dictionary, and if those are real words they
may convey my meaning. I feel quite sure, Mr. Le Drieux, that the story
of Andrews can not be the story of young Jones."
Le Drieux took the picture and replaced it in his pocket.
"To err is human," said he, "and I will admit the possibility of my being
mistaken in my man. But you will admit the resemblance?"
"Yes. They might be brothers. But young Jones has said he has no
brothers, and I believe him.
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There was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence over the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as the wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon, to whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not like any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that if any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and who found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father and mother should be killed.
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