Page 339 of 657

"It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I

remarked.

"Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner,

a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's

jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case

has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the

matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers,

glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out,

doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: