The Argosy — page 293: what you’re looking at

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

274 ' The Missing Rubies. bade me tell you that I have caught a glimpse of light. It is a very bright glimpse. Oh, Harriet, he knows something about that wretched necklace !” ‘‘ Nonsense, dearest,” said Harriet, incredulously. ‘‘What can he know ?” ‘‘ Much more than he has told me. He is going to see Godwin, to-day.” “Really? I always thought him a most remarkable man. But how he comes to be mixed up in that necklace mystery, I can’t pos- sibly imagine. Oblige me by waking Richard up. He has been snoring, and it is bad for him to snore. We must tell him about Mr. Vordenberg.” But Richard Milton woke up opportunely of his own accord, and was soon wide-awake enough to hear all that Beatrice had to say. He listened, stroking his chin thoughtfully, with a bewildered look on his honest face. ‘‘ Harriet,” he said, at last, ‘‘ who zs Vordenberg? What do we know of him? Nothing. And yet Beatrice, guided by some mys- terious instinct, goes to consult him in her troubles, and immediately gets promises of help and consolation. Can you explain all this P” ‘Certainly not,” responded his wife, promptly. ‘I have come to my wits’ end. Asto Mr. Vordenberg, if he were to turn out to be the Wandering Jew, or Cagliostro, or anyone of that sort, I should not be in the least surprised. But for all that, I steadfastly believe in him.” J] trust him with all my heart,” said Beatrice, with shining eyes. ‘‘At present I can only sit still and wait. Let us all be happy again,” she added, stroking Harriet’s hair with a gentle touch. ‘TI feel as if the old life were coming back.” The clocks were striking five when Vordenberg left the house, and bent his steps to Bulstrode Street to call on Godwin Earle. But Godwin was not in; and the servant could not tell when he was likely to return. Turning away from the door, Vordenberg walked slowly along the quiet little street, now warm with golden sunshine. Two sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, in white coiffes, passed him with a band of small children. A sunny-faced girl came marching by with her lover, a little boy ran whistling home from afternoon service. He took another turn in the street, making up his mind as to what he should do, and finally retraced his steps along Welbeck Street; resolved to go for a stroll, and come back once more to Godwin’s lodgings. He walked on and on, through Vere Street and into Oxford Street, turning his face towards the Marble Arch. All the London world seemed to be out-of-doors that day. ‘The houses were bright with flowers, windows were open, lace curtains swayed ina gentle breeze. The lights were so warm and the shadows so deep, that it seemed as if some gleams of an Italian sky had come to visit our English city. COMICOOOKS. GO