ban rn Tortoise 3B, y Old Frick was patrolling to and tro at the gate when I returned. “Nobody has got over the fence to- day,” said IL “No,” he answered thoughtfully; “that has been my belief the whole time. I fear that we must have thieves in the house—but here comes Sigrid!” He was quite right, for there was the dear girl walking at a rapid pace toward the gate. A warm blush overspread her face when she saw me, but it disappeared quickly, and I noticed she looked very pale and fatigued. We opened the gate for her, and I gave a sign to Frick that I wished first to speak with her. I went up to her, took her hand, and whispered some words which had noth- ing to do with the theft. Then, as we came nearer her uncle, I remarked aloud and as carelessly as possible: “Your uncle cannot find the black tor- toise; he thinks he must have mislaid it in some place or another.” I said this purposely to arouse her at- tention, in case the diamond really had been mislaid. I was afraid that if I mentioned at once that it might have been stolen, she would have become too excited to think quietly over the matter. “But, dear me, isn’t it in the cup- board? I myself saw you put it in its place before we followed Mr. Jurgens through the garden.” I could not help noticing that Sigrid spoke in a very absent-minded manner; she looked fagged out, like a person who had gone through some physical or mental exertion. We told her not to mention anything for the present to the servants about the disappearance of the diamond, and then she left us and went into the house. [It struck me as remarkable that the affair should interest her so little. The next thing I did was to telephone to the police station, and order two of my men to come out immediately to Villa Ballarat. I then asked old Frick to take a walk with me in the garden until they arrived; in this way we could see that nobody went in or out of the house without our knowledge. “Where is Mr. Howell?” T asked. I suddenly began to wonder why I had not seen or heard anything of this gen- tleman. “Oh, he went by rail to Osterdalen this afternoon. He was invited by a man called Varingson, I think, who owns large forests up there. They are going to shoot capercailzie; it is only four days, I think he said, before close time begins.” : “What time in the afternoon did he “He had sent his Tuggage down to the station before mid-day; but the train was not going before six or seven. We can hear from Iverson when he left. Besides, you know, everybody goes and comes as they like in this house.” Iverson was Frick’s trusted man; he was formerly a sergeant in the army, an unusually trustworthy and clever fellow, Whom Frick had taken igto his service at my recofamendation. He was genet- ally known as the gardenet, but he took his turn as gatekeeper, and with the coachman he kept the yard in order; was joiner, smith, and many other things,” and received from old Frick a very liberal salary. « Both he and the coachman were un- married; they lived in quite a small lodge near the gate, but had their meals up at the house. . In the meantime my.two