YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



to make sure he was alone with them, even 

 to glancing out of the rear window into the 

 shadow of the big white lilac-bush again, he 

 said: 



'Mr. and Mrs. Wakeman, I would sin- 

 cerely advise the close searching of your 

 waiting maid, and her effects. I am certain 

 the loss of the jewels lies with her, although 

 she has had ample time to dispose of them 

 - we shall not find them on her person. ' 



'Oh, sir! how can that be? She was 

 with me all the time. I can't consent to 

 such a cruel thing, to disgrace and ruin that 

 poor innocent girl for life. She's above all 

 suspicion, and of course she'd resent it ter- 

 ribly. I can't lose her now, in my nervous, 

 upset condition; she's a perfect jewel of a 

 girl, and I can't even lift that heavy baby.' 

 The little man looked puzzled, as though, 

 as he told papa afterwards, he could follow 

 any clue better than he could the tortuous 

 workings of a woman's mind. Father 

 Wakeman looked irresolute and helpless, 

 recognizing the dire calamity of losing Inez, 

 and he fell to wondering, as he confessed 

 later on, whether to pocket the loss of a few 

 diamonds, more or less, without further in- 



119 



