affairs with the help of James Strickland, and sailed for England in the
_Lusitania_, meaning to take a long holiday after his strenuous years as
a budding millionaire. The recovered jewels he left in Strickland's
care. And now you will have guessed, Mercedes, whence came those pearls,
diamonds, rubies, and emeralds requisitioned for Miss Robinson's box
with its convenient date of 1669! All that had to be done was to
unstring the pearls and unset the stones, and they might be supposed to
date from one century as well as another.
Now have I made everything clear, I wonder, up to the time when the
_Lusitania_ went down and Pietro Stanislaws was reborn as Peter Storm?
Oh, but one thing I forgot! You remember I wrote about the Russian
Military Attache from Washington, who recognized Peter and was
mesmerically suppressed by him at New London? There was no great mystery
after all. They'd known each other in Russia, so you may imagine it was
a shock to the Prince, seeing his dead friend suddenly walk into the
hotel. That was a bad moment for Peter! He wanted to declare his
identity when the time came, not to have it given away; so he pounced on
the man and whispered, "Girl in the case. I'll explain." Which he did
later and in private.
Now we come back at last to Pat: "the girl in the case!" But you haven't
let yourself worry about her, have you, Mercedes?
Even I didn't worry much. From the moment she and Peter retired into my
boudoir to "talk things over," and Jack and I sat supplying details out
of our imagination, I knew that whatever happened all would be well. For
that I trusted Peter.
If Ed Caspian had fallen from his high estate through no fault of his
own, and could have posed as a martyr, Pat might have thought it her
duty to be loyal. Even so she could never have said, "I will," when
invited to take him for better or worse. As it was, Caspian could pose
as nothing but a _pig_! He had given himself away, all along the line.
And he was not to go pathetically out into the world alone as a pauper.
He would have more money than he'd ever dreamed of until after the
_Lusitania_ tragedy. He would at worst be able to fight with Senator
Collinge over the hand (and purse) of his dear old friend Mrs. Shuster,
if Larry escaped her! The only difficulties I foresaw concerned the
pawned engagement ring and Larry's debts to Lily. As to these I boldly
decided that if worst came to worst I would betray my trust and tell
Peter everything.
You will see, however, that my conscience was saved, and by Caspian.
Pat, of course, was petrified at seeing Peter Storm turn into Pietro
Stanislaws. She listened dumbly to Peter's indictment of Caspian; and
then, before she found time or words to speak, the little wretch turned
to snap at her like a trapped jackal.
"You'll throw me over now!" he sneered. "That goes without telling. Rats
desert a sinking ship. But--_what do you mean to do about my ring_?
Maybe you thought I didn't know. Ask Mrs. Shuster! Angele told her. I
guess Mrs. Shuster's money and my ring have gone the same way!"
That was too much for Larry. "You'd better go after your d--d ring,
then!" said he, looking like a handsome, angry schoolboy. "I can give
you the pawn-ticket; and I bet Peter Storm--or Stanislaws--will lend the
money to redeem the beastly thing. As for Mrs. Shuster, we won't bring
her name into this. She and I will settle our affairs, official and
unofficial, although you seem to be so deep in her confidence. I say,
Captain Winston, do you mind my telling Caspian that the nearest way to
the pawnbroker's is through your front door, and the quicker he finds
it the better?"
"I don't mind in the least your telling him that," Jack replied
pleasantly.
"And I should _love_ you to!" I added breathlessly.
This brought Pat to me. "Oh, _Molly_!" she said.
"Oh, _Patsey_!" said I.
Then Peter came to us. "Oh, _Peter_!" said we both.
Somehow, I found that in his right hand was a hand of mine, and in his
left (nearest the heart) was one of Patty's. "It's all right," he said.
"It ends by _my_ getting the treasure of Kidd's Pines."
"Well, I do think you've earned it!" I exclaimed. "If it were mine to
give I'd give it with my blessing."
"I owe it largely to you--you and your Lightning Conductor." It was to
me Peter spoke; but he looked at Pat, "I don't know what I should have
done without you."
That was nice of him, wasn't it? I love praise, even when I don't
deserve it. We _have_ taken an interest, if we've done nothing more. And
so have you, my kind Mercedes. Peter and Pat, and you and Monty, and
Jack and I, are Perfect Dears, if I do say it myself. And I know those
two are going to be as happy as we are.
I wish you could both be at the wedding. It will have to be soon, if
Jack and I are to throw rice and slippers.
Ever your loving old
MOLLY.
THE END
[Illustration: THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS GARDEN CITY, N. Y.]
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The page numbers of illustrations have been changed to reflect
the new positions, and are now indicated in the illustration
list by 'Page' instead of 'Facing Page'.
For the benefit of certain readers, explanatory names have been
added to some illustration tags and these have been identified
with an asterisk.
Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. All other
inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling
has been retained.