The Argosy — page 73: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

6o Lady Ennerdale’s Fewels. candle and explored the two remaining rooms. But before doing this he took a glance at the open window. He had made up his mind that he should find a ladder outside, and he did find one. The mode by which the thief or thieves had obtained ingress to the room was at once apparent. The three doors were locked on the inside, and the keys of two of them were still in the locks. ‘The third key was afterwards found on the carpet. At a cursory glance no further property than the jewel- case seemed to be missing, a fact which subsequent examination fully confirmed. In the Earl’s dressing-room was a large and heavy travelling-trunk of peculiarly substantial make. Stooping down to examine this, his lordship was startled to see certain marks round the lock which plainly indicated that someone had been trying to force it. The Earl turned pale as he examined the marks by the aid of his candle. ‘‘ How fortunate that they did not succeed in breaking it open,” he exclaimed under his breath. There was a writing-table close by, which the Earl next proceeded to examine. The lock of this had been violently forced, but the contents, being nothing but letters and documents, had not been interfered with. An Indian cabinet of rare workmanship, which stood on a table in the bed-room, had also been broken open, but nothing taken out of it. Money or jewellery had evidently been the object of the thieves’ quest, but not finding either, they had declined to burden themselves with any meaner spoil, and contenting them- selves with the case which contained the diamond necklace, the emerald bracelet, and a few other articles, they had decamped as quietly as they had come. It was most fortunate that the other case, in which was the Countess’s own collection of jewels, was still in Mr. Dawson’s strong-room, or that also would undoubtedly have been taken. While the Earl was looking about in much perturbation of spirit, his eye was caught by some strange object on the floor. He stooped and picked it up. It proved to be a chisel—the implement, undoubt- edly, with which the writing-desk and the Indian cabinet had been forced open, and which had tested the strength of the Earl’s travelling- trunk. “Tt’s alla mystery. I was never more puzzled in my life,” said the Earl to himself, as he put the chisel in his pocket and went back to his wife’s dressing-room. ‘‘Who on earth can have done it ?” And yet there seemed nothing about the affair that need have puzzled his lordship. What could be more admirably simple than the way the robbery had been planned and carried out. A ladder, a window, an empty room, a little box that a man might stow away in his great-coat pocket. Of a surety there was nothing mysterious in all this. Her ladyship was lying on the sofa, pale but conscious, when her husband entered the dressing-room. ECORNIELOOKS «~E@