The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-01-26

was not 9 little surprised To he:
: Chat the house had been broken I'M
the previous night, the sire and II
glsr proc; safe opened with apps
emily tie greatest ease, and the rim
distracted. AS TO the bull dog, h
had, to use Il technical phrase muc
in vogue in the police courts, bee
squared by Il peace offerin
in the shape OF q large piece Of live
and had given no trouble whateve
the thief might, ia fact, have got c
easily vi h his booty, had it not bee
for what might almost be termed a
amiable weakness on his part.
On i chest of drawers in my bed
chamber stood q small Japanese cal
met, IF curious workman ship, but {
no great valua. This attracted th
attention Of Cur friend, who, as h
afterwards confessed, thought
would please bis little daughter
cripple.
!, He took il, and the taking oft wa
his ruin. He had Quilted the hous
in sa'e;y and, was already couple o
hundred yarus from it, when he wa
stopped by policeman, whose sus
picions were excited by seeing a shab
billy dressed man at so early en- houl
it being between two and thret
O'Clock in The morniDg-hurryine
rapidly through the streets with 8
bulky parcel under his arm. Til,
robber was arrested, and searched
and the ring found in one of hi:
waistcoat pockets.
In due course the examination be.
fore magistrate took place and the
prisoner was committed for trial at
the next sssizes, being bound over
to prosecute. In the meantime the
ring remained in the hands OF the po-
lice as usual 10 about six weeks
afterwards the trial came eff / was
placed ia the Witness-box and tesliiied
TO the value of the stone AMI the cir
cumstances ulder which it had been
stolen from me.
AT the request of the foreman of
the jury the ring was handed to him
for inspection. TO my infinite sur
prise one OF the gentlemen in the
box after looking at it careful.
ly for few moments, said quietly,
This stone is not diamond'
Not a diamond! exclaimed the
Judge s'Are YOU sure. sir. of what
you say - he added, rather STORMY,
addressing the juryman who had just
spoken.
''Perfeclly, nv lord," was the lie
ply. Il am a jeweller, and | posi-
lively assert that tie stone in this
ring holding it up as lie spuke) is
not diamond; although a pretty
fair imitation"
The other persons in court, who
stated that they Were dealers in pre-
cious stones, confirmed his state
ment.
All eyes in the assembly were now
directed inquiringly upon me, and |
felt that | was in danger Of being re
gardel as species of imposter-as a
msD, in fact, who had pre-
tended to be possessor of property,
and had been very justly. though
exposed. The clear,
gray eyes OF the judge, in particular,
were bent keenly and inquisitively
upon my face, and felt myself grow
ing very uncomfortable However.
assuming a cooiness | was very lar
nom feoing, | quietly narrated the
under which the ling
had been presented To my uncle, ami
hsd consequently pissed into nv
possession. When | concluded, |
had the satisfaction of perceiying
that | hal been successful in convinc
ing my hearers that, ii the re
had been any deception in the
business, /, at least, was no atty to
it.
Tae trial tleu proceeded, al d result
ed of course, in the conviction of the
burglar, who received sentence of
five years penal servitude Before
the Court rose, however, the Judge
The officer OF the police, in
whose custody the ring had remained
previous TO the trial, 10 he placed in
the witness box, when he underwent
a searching examination as TO the
measures which had been taken for
the safe keeping OF the ring.
The police sergeant's testimony
was fully confirmed by that of other
OF the force; and l could
not but admit tha. apparently there
were not the slightest grounds Tor
that the ring had been
with while in the hands OF
The police.
When and by whom the the original
stone had been abstracted,-fOr that |
it had been distracted and the false
one substituted for it, was convinc
ed endeavored tor some time,
but in vain, to ascertain some ofmy
friends, indeed, suggested that the
ring Lad never contained a diamond
at all, but was in the same condition
as when presented to my uncle by the
rajah.
But this theory was 10 my mind,
for in the first place, IN ost
Eastern princes are pretty odjudges
of precious stones ; and, in the sec
o1d assuming that the rsjah could
have been imposed upon, the risk
would have been too great for the
discovery, at any time, that he had
been cheated, would, in all prObsbili-
ty, have cost the offender his head.
No. l. was clear to me that the |
stone had heen either changed at
some time by one OF my uncle's ma
tive servants, whilst he was in India.
or that the ring had been tampered
with during the many years 1t was at
his bankers. La the former case, of
course. the l0ss was irretrievsble in
the latter, there was just possibility |
and no more, that l might discover
the thief, / therefore went at Cnce
to my Hncle's bankers, where, at The
very outset of my inquiries, l was
met by an assurance on the part oil
the manager that the ring had been
deposited in a safe to which no one
had access but himself.
To suspect gentleman in his po-
sition was, of course, quite out OF
the question, and it remained for me
but to resign myself TO the less OF
the diamond with what philosophy
co uld.
Some SIX months afterwards, how
ever, little light was, incidentally,
thrown upon the suhjec., by The an
that the manager OF the
bank in question had absconded, and
that it had been discovered that for
several years psst he had been in the
habit oi arplyirg securities, lodged by
customers with the bank foC safe
keeping, to his own use. Under these
circumstances l vas able to form
pretty shrewd guess as to the fate OF
my diamond ring.
Miss Lydia S. Hell, who is now
acting United States Treasurer, in