My Aunt's Opal

murky morning in November I was calleo toto the manager's room of the Metropolls bank. to tod my -vmit .loan Beated in front of the great box she was so fond of overhaultag. With a number oï Jewel cases spread out bcfore her. "Mrs. I-etherby wishes yon to take lier jewels to Birmtagham to be repaired by Messrs. Headeourt," said Mr. Weymouth. "Tou had better cliange places wlth Madden to-night, and go down to Brading &.Ashley's Wlth th ebullion." -And take every precautton, Charles," said my aunt, looking eeverely over lier spectacles. "Mr. AVeyniouth has been explaining to me what is to bo done with the gold." "Ye-s sir ; yes aunt." I said, ilushing with pleasnre. Here was a delightïnl break to the monotony of my existence ! The tax on wora soverigns is, as everyone laiows, a. nnisance to bankers, and our astute manager avoided sendlng his to the bank of Etngland by forardins a large amonnt monthly to Binningham, where the flrm Brading & Afihley uaed it over the counters. Ten thousand pounds was generally the Bum taken, and the junior clerks competed for the taslc, as it gave iliem b run In the mail, a holiday. and the recelpt of a guinea besides the hotel expenses. At mldnight I was safely ensconced in the corner of a first-class carriage; the portera luid liïtcd the heavy box containing the gold, and the vallse witb my aunt's Jewels. The chief of these was a handsome diamond ueeklace, with an enormous pendant, containing a very QawleüS opal, with the red fíame in its heart whleh gives these geins their uncanny appearance. Aunt Joan saiil this ornament was "prioekss," a figure of speech whlch nieaait that a jeweler hal told her he eould not get a necklace like it under ten thousand pounds. I pulled my traveltag eap about my pars, tipped the guard, who assured me as tre locked the door that no one else should get in, plunged my hands toto my pockets and dropped into a rêverie. Of course I thought most of Caroline Lee. my aunt's corapanion, and the girl I loved with all my soul. I thought ithat perhaps this journey might be a step on the way to gain her. I would be so oareful, so discreet, that the partners of the Birmhi-iiam bank should take special tice of me. My reverles turnea to fantastie . dreams, and I knew no more of the , outer world until Aunt Joan's tire , opal seemed to leap at my eyes, and íor one brief, sickening second I saw a man with uplifted hand, írom which blood was streaming and was concious of a crashing Wow on my liead; and then came darkness, thick darkness, in which I sa.nk and Bank. "He must be asked öO questions," Baid a deep volee beside me. "Very well, ir, I will try to keep him as quiet ae I can," replied a woman's voke. The footsteps died away, and the rustle oí a starehed apron told me that Bhe had seated herself. I remained quite still, and my dulled brain began Blowly to work. I had a learful, íearful pain in my liead, one eye was oovered with a ban-dage, it hurt me to look long at the long white wall oï the hospital ward ; and although I could lift the eyelid ol my free eye now, Idimly recollect having tried vainly many times befoi-e to open it. "Wtoat has happemed to me?" I said at last, to a voteO wbieh I could not recognlze íor my own. "You were injured in ttoe train, and must stay here íor some time,' 'said my nurse, a gweet-looking woman, wlth a firm mouth and soít gray eyes. "I wül tcll you. anyUiiníí you wisli by-amd-by," she continued ; "but try aaid rest now.' ' I obeyed toer tlieu, and íor many weary weeks aíter. Slowly I gathered what íacts there were to know. My aunt's jewels liad been taken out oí their cases and carried off witli tlie exception oí one bracelet, whicli was found covered with blood, on the floor of the railway carriage. More tiiau half of the gold was gone, and, as L5,000 means over a hundred weight troy, the tlüef must have been a powerful mían to burden himself thus. They bclieved that he had been hidden under the ueat of the carringe when I took imy place, and that, owing to my sleep, he was able to emerge with safety. At Brandon the train slowed, and he must t hen have laken the opportunity to get off, as his tracifl toiild be iollowed on the whitemed earth of a slied where he liad betakem himsdf to remove the traces of his crime. An engine-cleaner found a sovereign beneath one of the locomotives in the moralng, and somc soUed clothes were left in a pail of red-sUiined water. Heavy footsteps eould be íollowed a little way np the line, and down a bank, but in the field below all clue ended. No jewels were heard of, the eases had been left in the earriage ; and tliai with (the darkaess, aml the time mat elapsed in Birmingham before hurror-stri.k.n officials communi3 with the pólice, ana settled wlth tiiat whleli they believod to be a dead body, the clever thiel had plenty of time in whieh to eiface selí. I recovered nt leDgth. My aunt was so aagry wlth me and the bank, tliat Ín spite of what I liad suífered, she forbade me in her house ; and finding from Caroline Lee's distress the secret of our love, sternly ordered her to give up all idea of marriage wlth sueh a "bluuderer" as she called me. The directora of the "Metropolis" were klnder ; they gave me sick leave of four montlis, and then took me on again in my old post. Needless to say I worked wlth a will, as soon as my health permitted ; and that the hope of recovering my aunt's jewels was never absent from my mind. i'ive years went by. Caroline was still unmarried ; my aunfs veto remained in force, and my life was a dreary ome, thöugh occasdonally brlghtened by a glimpse of my dnrlIn the park when she took the puga for an airing, and in Bond Street when she had to do my auut's ping. I had risen in the bank, and was head clerk in die braneh whence I had been sent that November ïüght to I i'inamiiam. We were very busy ; important affairs were on hand, amongst them the amalgamation of the bank of Bradlflg & Ashley wlth the "Metropolis," and a greater part of the arrangements feil on Mr. Weymouth, manager in the city. As he could not leave town at this Juncture I was eoniniissioned to take down Boine important papers, and have an intiu'view -with the partners of the country firm. I found tlïem very busy at the bank, preparing for the move into their grand new premesis, the building of which was in part the reason for the proposed partnership, the expense of construction having been so mucli greater than was anticipated. ''We are looking over the 'dormant account' boxes,"' jsaid Mr. Brading, the seniO'r partner in the old firm, as I entered. "I toust ask you to wait a ïew jnonients while I finish tuis batch.' 'Wliíit is thiB?" inquired Mr. Bradins, as a box on which "John Hasluck" .was prmted, was placed on the table. "It belongs to an account whicls was' opened about live years ago," replied the clerk, referring to a list In hls hand. "Xothing has been added to it since, and no check ever drawo. There is a deposit account of over L5,000 and this box, which is stated to eontain valnables ; we have made every effort to discover the customer without success." "TakO it back again," said Mr. Brading. The clerk raised the box, which semed heavy, and he caught the corner of it agninst a pile heaped on the floor. It feil with a crash, rolled over, and when picked up, it was found that thé J:ir had caused lts illmnde lock to open. "Better see if there is amy clue to the owner inside," said Mr. Brading, stooping over and takmg out a brown paper parcel -which he unfolded. My instinct of curiosity impelled me to look also. "Good heavens !" I exelaimed, Btarting back ; "Aunt Joan's fire opal !" I determiined to be my own detective now, and limit up the man who had so wronged us. Airted by introductions irom Scotlaild Yard to governors of prisons, a.nd by accees to all manncr of pólice doi-uments, six weary months of patiënt eeareh resulted in the discovery that the "John Hasluek" WhO had opened the account at Brading & Ashley's within five days of the robbery, was none otber than the notorioue Jonae Hayden, who died in jail in Birmingham, having been brought thither, severely injuved during a figut wlth the pólice who caught him in the midet of a daring attempt to rob a hoiise in a vUlage twenty miles out of the town. A warden in the prison deposed to having given up a small pocketbook bequeathed to him by the dying mam, which he said was "worth a fortune." No one could discipher the entries in fi, nnd it had lain untouched amongst other relies of prosoners at the jail, till the after liglit I brought rendered lts contenta clear. ■■John has luck ! 5,000 g. v. u. d. B. A. B. B." soon read as "John H:luck. L5,000 gold. Jewels, value unknown, deposited at Brading & Ashley's bank, Birmingham,"' and this enabled us to read the other entries We dicovered that mder the Bame alias lie liad stored large sums oí money and many valuablea in various banks in England and Scotland. No doubt he intended to gather lüs plunder and settle down t o a respeetablo Ufe, but the "orne try too many" had ruined all. Aunt Joan was appeased at the sight of hier diamonds, tlie banlc gave me o. haaulsome douceur, and Caroline and ijfM n0 longer trust to chance meetings in the park, as we ■ look at eaeli otüer daily aerosa our i (linncr table without let or tundranee, and are as happy as mortals can j te, on this puzzle oï a planet. But I must confesa that I have j oever been able to overeóme my dlslike to traveling at nighfc.