LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2699, 1 December 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

MISS PROTHERO'S EARRING. [Prom "Truth."] When old Sam Prothero, the millionaire, in a fit of unaccustomed tenderness, gave his daughter the handsomest pair of diamond earrings that money could buy, he took the opportunity to caution her for the fiftieth time against holding communication with her brother John. Of late years, since his sou had gone hopelessly to the bad, the old man bad been a very harsh parent to his long-suffering daughter, partly owing to grief and disappointment, and partly because he resented the womanly sympathy which she felt for her scapegrace .brother. Old Sam Prothero was an ill-tempered, cunniug, suspicious old man, and the unremitting precautions he took to prevent the poor girl from rendering assistance to her brother were the source of misery and annoyance to her. Not only did he keep her as much as possible by his side, but he made her account to him for every farthing she spent, lest the reprobate should profit by his sister's affectionate and generous disposition.

Ellen Prothero prudently locked her diamonds up, and said nothing about them to her brother at their stolen interviews. In spite of her father's vigilance, she had from time to time assisted the young man, both in money and by giving him trifling articles of jewellery to pledge, and though she would willingly have sacrificed her diamond earrings for the same unhallowed purpose, she dared not run the risk of discovery by parting with such valuable ornaments. But her prudent reticence proved futile, owing, indirectly, to her father's vulgar love of ostentation. He permitted her one evening to go to a ball in the charge of a chaperone on whose discretion he implicitly relied, and nothing would please him but that she must wear her new earrings. ' Don't you think, father, they would look too grand ?' she urged, with a foreboding that they would bo safer in her room upstairs.

«Of course they would look grand,' snapped the old man ; ' that is why I want you to wear 'em. I didn't give 'em to you to hide away. I like people to see that I can afford to give my gal diamonds that'll make their eyes water.' Whenever old Sam Prothero was very much in earnest, he relapsed into the vernacular, which had clung to him since the day when ho commenced life with the proverbial wheelbarrow. His daughter saw that he was not to be gainsaid, and therefore wore her diamonds for the first time to gratify hi* wishes. Unfortunately events turned out precisely as ?he had feared. Her brother, who always insisted upon being informed of her engagements, sent in word while the ball was in progress that he was awaiting her in the public garden at the back of the house. The poor girl stole out to speak to him, and found him, alas, more than half intoxicated. He wanted money, of course, hi 3 needs in this respect being insatiable. Ellen's truthful assertion that she was not, at the moment, able to assist him met with a scornful incredulity, and the fatal glitter of the diamonds attracted hi 3 attention, He seized hold of one of the ear-rings, half in rude jest and half in spite, and, before she could prevent him, he had dragged it rougldy from her ear. Having once got it in his possession he stubbornly refused to part with it, and the upshot was that the unfortunate girl was obliged to retui-n to the house without it, and to slip the remaining ear-ring in her pocket, to avoid attracting attention to her Io3S. Next morning her father's first question was ab ;ut the earrings—whether they had caused a sensation, and who had admired them. His daughter answered these inquiries with a sinking heart, not daring, for the life of her, to reveal her misfortune, yet knowing full well that he must find it out sooner or later. The storm burst even sooner than she feared. The old man seemed to have received a hint from the discreet chaperone, who had probably noticed, without sayiug anything to the girl, that she had not worn her earrings the latter part of the evening. No doubt her father, putting two and two together, had arrived at a pretty true conception of what had happened : but it was not his nature to be outspoken. He preferred to attain his object by tortuous methods.

' Bring down the earrings, Ellen,' he said, abruptly, after dinner : * I want to have a look at 'em.'

His keen old eyes were fixed upon her, and the girl, to hide her confusion, rose at once from her seat, and hurried from the room. After a long interval she returned, looking painfully conscience stricken and embarrassed.

The fact is, father,' she said hurriedly, ' I had to take one of the earrings to be mended to-day.' Poor girl! It was a lie, of course, and it made her flesh creep as she uttered it. But sudden fear and perplexity caused her to resort to subterfuge. ' Mended, eh ! What has gone wrong V demanded the old man, with a sharp suspicious glance. ' One of the stones is loose.' ' Ah ! then the other earring is no good to you till you get the pair?' said old Sam, whose expression plainly showed that he did not believe a word of the story ; ' 111 take care of it for you.' When the girl placed the case containing, the remaining earring in his hand, the old man looked as though he were almost disappointed. He liked to detect people in falsehoods and meanness, and he had evidently suspected that neither of the orna'ments would be forthcoming. He shut up the case with a vicious snap, and tottered to his feet by the aid of his stick. ' When will the other one be home, eh ? Where have you taken it ?' he asked. Ellen named a well-known jeweller, from whom the earrings had been purchased, and desperately fixed a week as the time required for repairing the defect. The next moment she wished she had said a month or a year, though by doing so she would have betrayed herself on the spot. Old Sam shuffled off to the library at the end of the passage, and locked the case contaming the earring in an old bureau, where he kept his secret papers. The next few day 3 were a period of torture to the poor girl, not only because each passing minute brought her nearer to the dreaded scene, but because her father, as though divining and enjoying her distress, was constantly alluding to the missing earring. He inquired when it would be ready a dozen times, and frequently threatened to call upon the jeweller and fetch the Ornament himself.

Meanwhile Ellen Prothero was making desperate efforts to recover the earring from her brother, but without success, for the truth was that the young blackguard had sold it for a trifling sum. At length the week expired, and on the morning of the eight day the first thing the old man said when he came down to breakfast was, ' Ellen, you must call for that earring" to-day.' ' Yes, father,' she said, speaking with an air of desperation. The old man chuckled, and ate his breakfast with unusual zest. He more than suspected he was being deceived, but his daughter's disobedience and the loss of the diamonds were nothing to him as compared with the grim satisfaction of making her utterly wretched. Whan the poor girl started on her errand old Sam took a seat by the window and watched eagerly for her return. No sooner did the carriage come in sight than he hobbled as far as the door to meet her.

' Well,' he exclaimed, with a cunning look.

' Here it is, father,' said the girl, bringing out a small packet from her muff. Old Sam took the packet in silent amazement. Even now he did not believe that he held the earring in his hand, for his daughter's crimson cheeks and averted eyes at once attracted his attention. Ho was chiefly possessed by astonishment at her audacity in carrying the deception so far. Doubtless she was endeavoring to x»altn off upon him some clumsy imitation or substitute in paste. Old Sam chuckled as he thought of the utter futility of such an attempt- But when he opened the packet his astonishment was greater still, for there lay the earring, beyoud all manner of doubt. Old Sam know something about diamonds, and was connoisseur enough to recognise at"a glance that the stones in the earring were the identical ones which he had given to his daughter. A careful scrutiny confirmed his first impression, and for once in his life the old man felt a trifle disconcerted and ashamed of himself. He concealod this

passing remorse, however, l>y assuming all injured and aggrieved tone as he said : 'Much thanks I get for giving you a handsome present. I shall take the earrings back agen and lock 'em up till you're old enough to take proper eare of 'em. I don't believe your story about a stone being loose. I expect you broke the earring through carelessness. One would think diamonds were as cheap as pebbles.' With this parting shaft, delivered out of sheer wantonness and vexation, the old man beat a hasty retreat, and shuflled off to the library. Ho was thoroughly out of temper, not only from disappointment at having been deprived of a legitimate occasion for venting his ill-humour, but because he had a stronu suspicion that somehow or other, his flau liter had stolen a march upon him. Hoverer, as he had both the earrings in his possession there must needs be an end to the matter. Old Sam seated himself in front of the bureau, where he kept his will and other treasures, and fumbled at the lock with his gouty old finders. Having opened it with considerable difficulty, he turned to tbe drawer wherein he had placed the other earring in its case, but to his surprise the case had disappeared. There were other things in the same drawer, including various antiquated articles of jewellery and a few gold and silver coins, and for some minutes the old man did not realise that the earring was missing. The trut'.i dawned upon him by slow degrees, and increased his irration. 'Dear me, now ! I thought I put it here. It is singular that I can never find anything when I want it,' he muttered, as he groped about.

It was a fact that of late years the old man had acquired a singular knack af mislaying things. His memory was beginning to fail him, and many instances had occurred of this awkward infirmity. To put something carefully away, and to find it months afterwards in an unexpected nook or corner when he had completely forgotten all about it, had become quite a common occurrence with the old man, who, however, flattered himself that no one but himself was aware of his weakness. The consequence was that on the present occasion he did not trouble to make a prolonged search, feeling satisfied that the ear-ring would turn up again unexpectedly some day or other. He I contented himself with carefully putting away the one hi 3 daughter had just >,iven him and locking up the bureau muttering as he rose from the chair—- ' It's lucky 1 told Ellen I would take the earrinns away from her. If she wants 'em back she can't have 'em, that's all—at least, not tdl I come across the one I've mislaid.'

The cunninz old man was so pleased at being able to conceal from his daughter this conspicious instance of senile weakness that he almo3t forgot his recent disappointment, and returned to the morning room in a better humour.

His entrance interrupted a conversation between Miss Prothero and the butler, and had old Sam been quicker at hearing he would have caught the closing remark of his daughter, which was as follows : ' You were quite right to speak to me about it, Newton. If it had been one of the maids she would have had no business in your master's study last night, as you say, especially after every one else was in bed ; but the truth is that it was I whom you caught sight of on the stairs. I—l—came down to the study to fetch somethin?. But you »eed not mention this to your master, I would rather he knew nothing about it.'