“Was it a woman’s hand bag or a purse?”
“It was more like a small purse, one that could be easily held in one hand,” Nellie explained. “I felt the shape and heard the clink of coins in it, moreover, which made me think it was a purse. And then I—oh, sir, I’m only a poor girl, dependent upon what I earn to support myself and a crippled sister—I thought I had come into possession of some money. I did wrong. I was impelled to keep it. I yielded to temptation. I——”
“All that was perfectly natural, Miss Fielding, under the circumstances,” Chick kindly interposed when tears suddenly appeared in her blue eyes. “You cannot be consistently blamed. Tell me what you did and what followed?”
“When I saw that I was not observed, or so it then appeared, I concealed the bag under my coat and hurried on for a short distance, until I could safely look into it and learn what it contained. I did so under a lamp on a corner, when well away from the crowd that had left the theater.”
“What did you find in the bag?” Chick inquired.
“It contained a small handkerchief, some gold coins, and a diamond ring. Oh, how it glittered!” she exclaimed, with quiet enthusiasm. “I gasped with amazement when I saw it. I bent my head nearer to peer into the bag, and then—oh, what a strange feeling came over me!”
“Explain,” said Chick. “Describe it.”
“I don’t know that I can,” Miss Fielding replied. “I never felt so before. I seemed to be losing myself, so to speak, and everything suddenly grew dim.”
“Did you feel ill or——”
“No, sir, not at all. The sensation was only momentary, as when one suddenly faints. Then all became dark. I don’t know what I did or what followed. I knew nothing more, sir, until I revived on a cot in the hospital and saw the physician and the nurse bending over me. That is all I know about it, sir, all I can tell you.”