The Moonstone of Fez

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While touring Algiers, Mrs. Osborne and her daughter, Winnifred, make the acquaintance of Schuyler Van Norden, a young American banker. At a little booth, Mrs. Osborne purchases "The Moonstone of Fez." On their way to their hotel, Winnifred and her mother are accosted by a beggar, who seizes Mrs. Osborne's hand and insists upon telling her fortune. The following night they retire in adjoining rooms. In the morning, Winnifred is frightened to find her mother has mysteriously disappeared. When all the hotel attendants tell Winnifred she arrived at the hotel alone, proving it by the hotel register, the poor girl begins to fear she has lost her senses. In despair, she writes to Van Norden for help. He learns, by investigating, that the beggar who annoyed Mrs. Osborne, had since died from the Black Plague. He examines the register closely and finds Winnifred's name has been erased. Passing along a narrow street, Van Norden sees "The Moonstone of Fez" owned by Mrs. Osborne in a shop window. The shopkeeper confesses that a maid from the hotel sold it to him. Under cross-examination, the maid admits Mrs. Osborne died of the Black Plague, and fearing a panic in the hotel, the management had spirited away the body and denied her existence. The proprietor admits the truth, the guilty ones are punished and the mystery explained. Van Norden and Winnifred immediately start for America to forget in the happiness of their future, the fearful incident of Algiers.