The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-03-15

/ ed. And then his connection with Insu-
rance companies whose liabilities were un-
countable, would sweep away what real
estate he had left 1t was this news that
50 expedioIsly hastened his departure from
\ England.
CHAPTER XXXy.
1 Alvan Relvason was what might be term
ed, in the strictest sense Of the word, a
lucky man. The great desolation of fire
/ that ruined thousand, left him compare
lively untouched The bulk of his prop
| erty was located in the districts unharmed
by the fire He had some very valuable
buildings in the South Division which
were destroyed, but his good fortune did
not by any means desert him even there,
as they were insured in responsible foreign
companies Still, fortune is a tickle Jade,
and cannot be depended upon absolutely I;
/ there is no telling when she will desert,
and frown upon her most fayored-thOse
| upon whom she was wont to shower her
choicest benedictlOns There is another
| peculiarlty noticeable in the whimsical &c
centric maneuvers of her ever-changlng
character when fortune does frown upon
man, her frOwn is inexorably relentless (;
she seldom ever, smiles upon him again.
Moreover, she may toy with, and smile
upon US all our hvvs but in an instant un-
expected and unwarmed, we are debarred
| forever from all partlcipations IN the favors
she SO lavlshly bestowed.
/ A few weeks after the fire, Mr.. Magaw
accidentally met Miss Estella RelvasOn at
the house Of mutual lady friend, and un-
der the circumstances, an in reduction was
unavoidable Miss Relvason was most
/ superbly, if not extravagantly, dressed.
Among other devices to enhance her ap-
I pearance, she had suspended from a very
heavy and artistically wrought gold chain
which she wore On her neck an unusually
large brilliant and costly dimond cross
/ hory, studded with diamonds 1t was Ger
talnly beautiful, magnificent jewel. 50
thought MIR Magaw when ne first saw it ;
no one could form any other opinion but
there was something in the cross that riv-
eted the attention and gaze Of the deteO-
tive. There was something strange, odd,
peculiar, about 1t, which would in all prob
ability escape the notice Of the ordinary
superficial observer, but the detective was
not one Of that class. The strangeness or
peculiarity. arose from want Of Unifor-
nifty in the diamonds, and III the gold, or
body Of tie cross. The diamonds in three
arms Of the Jewel, were Of that pure,
white, transparent variety, generally term
ed diamonds Of the first wafer the dia-
monds in the other arm were not 50 pure,
nor 50 white and even there vas slight
difference in the color Of the gold between
that arm and the rest. There was still
another difference the pure white dis-
mond had over sixty facets each, while the
others had not more than forty conse-
quently there was a difference in the re-
fractIye powers Of some Of the diamonds.
The detective appeared very anxious to
cuncllIate Miss Relvasun, but she was chill
inglv cold. formal, repellent. MIR. Magaw,
however, was a close observer Of human
nature and knew full well that the direct,
open road to proud woman's heart OF
good graces. lay through her vanity, and
he took advantage Of that female idiosyn-
cracy.
% | am passIonately enamored of brill
liant ana rare, exquisite Jewelry, sand Mr..
Magaw, in an ingratiatIng voice, but |
must say never saw anything so grandly,
50 chastely beautiful, Miss Relvason, as
that diamond cross The lady smiled !;
the words were gratifying to her vanity and
they pleased her hugely
oh you are complimentary, she man
aged @ say, with the faintest touch Of 81
thank you, il her voie
=" But not unjustly 50, he replied.
Papa bought it in New York many
years ago and gave it to me for Christ
mas present it is very old-came from
France, believe. When papa bought it
one Of the arms was missing, and though
he searched the whole city he could not OBJ
tain diamond of the same variety
% Yes, noticed that, and no doubt YOU
will think it strange when | tell you l be-
/ lieve have the missing arm of that cross. ="
Strange Of course | do, it cant be,
it . impossible have you though l'
The detective produced the arm Of a cross
tlory 1t had three points at one end, the
! diamonds were OF the same pure white
brilliant variety, the workmanship and
gold were exactly similar and in fact there
could be no mistake, it was the missing
arm
f" am delighted know papa will buy
it Of you-but how did you come by it :"
g 1t was given to me by man who pick
ed it up many years ago. He deemed 1t Of
no especial value, | suppose, answered the
detective
Z" You will sell it h"
" Possibly, slowly answered the detec-
tive, 4" for consideration few men would
care about giving, he added with peculiar
emphasis
The next day this note was delivered to
him by a servant
WEDNESDAY, Both
Mr.. Nlagaw. Dear Sir: My daughter in
forms me that you have in your possession the
missing arm of valuable cross, which | pur-
chased years ago minus said arm. / have Sc
rious doubts about the genuineness Of the part
you hold but am willing to be convinced, and
will esteem it favor to have you call at my
residence tomorrow evening. VIII purchase
the remnant, il genuine, at your terms. My
servant will bring your reply.
Yours truly,
ALVIN RELvAsoN
To this note Mr. Magaw returned this
answer
"WEDNESDAY, 30th
Alvan Relvason, Esq. Dear Sir | am in
receipt Of your note of this date. If you de-
sire to purchase the " remnant" you can call
at my office at your convenience
Respectfully,
chicago, Ill.
Mr.. Geldamo and Vida arrived home
safely and took up their abode in neat,
unassuming cottage, far out in the suberbs
Of the West Side, which Paul had procured
and fitted up for their reception from the
proceeds Of his own private bank account.
Mr.. Geldamo was now an old man-all the
life and spirit we're crushed out Of him
| He placed the whole Of his affairs in Paul 8
hands with the simple injunction, save,
if you can, from the general wreck, sufh-
cient to keep me from actual want the bal
ance Of my days. which fear are few, he
faltered sufferingly.
Vida had lost her youthful appearance /;
she was indeed changed an ugly looking
wrinkle marred the classic beauty OF her