The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-01-15
The Diamond Bracelets.

| IL was the lele Gay OF the emperor, the
last Pickering blaze of his greatness ere
his glory departed forever All Paris
knew that he would grace the opera that
night, and add to its usual lrstre the gilt
tering pomp and circumstance of power.
Accordingly all that portion of Paris who
had the necessary number of francs went
to the opera, and, in honor of so great an
OCCASION Mons Blauvais, the director
was to produce ''La Prophete''
The overture was over; the Emperor,
accompanied by the Empress, radiant in
her beauty and glttering with Jewels, had
just entered the royal box; his suite, uni
formed in every color Of the rainbow,
stood grouped in the background In
another moment the bell would tingle and
the opera commence But in an instant
of time, when every sound was heard, the
second box to the right of the Emperor
was opened, and the curtains were drawn
aside, and revealed the lovely wife CT the
Russian Ambassador, Duke Metzkerwitch
No wonder that the bell tinkled unheard
and the curtain went up unnoticed; no
wonder that every eye was fixed with Il
fascinated gaze upon the woman who had
| Just taken her seat and was calmly and
with well-hrednonchalance glancing about
| uiiN it'''7' iOi tIoli lltI ttlIllS, )lttIIilSr
like beacons, sparkled the diamonds Of
Itch Paris had heard 50 much, and which
royalty in vain had long sought to pllr-
chase \ hum of admiration ran through
the house, and then, tor the first time, the
enchanting strains of the chorus were
| listened to
When the curtain fell upon the first act,
and Miiord This ogling Milady That, a
servant wearing the imperial livery pre-
sented himself at the Russian Ambassa-
doris box raped only as an imperial
| tlunky could rap and then entered the
| box.
Her Majesty had noticed the bracelets
and was dumb With admiration; would
| Miladv he 50 gracious as to allow the En-
press 10 make a personal examination ot
one Of the bracelets? ,"
| In an instant the fair arm was shorn Of
its gems, and with smothered eiacula-
ton Of delight the man wearing the I'M
perial livery bowed himself out of the box.
bearing the bracelet that a million of
francs could not purchase
The curtain fell upon the third act, as
| cended again on the fourth, the notes of
the finale rolled through the house, the
curtain fell for the las1 time; and still,
with well bred politenesS, the wife of the
Russian Ambassador waited for the return
of her priceless jewels The imperial
party rose and departed, and vet the brace
let was not returned Then the Duke,
with Il terrible froWn of impaticnce. rose
and drove rapidly to the Tuileries. and
demanded the return of the diamonds.
Explanations followed, and the Duke
was at last convinced that the Empress had
fIr tb. h1,ooAlot and hat he,
man wearing the imperial livery was one
of the daring thieves who infested the cap
ital. He bade his coachman drive to the
office OF the Pretect of Police, and ere day-
light 4 hundred of the shrewdest officers
We're searching Paris for the gems The
Duke. filled with anxiety. remained nj tho
office for tdings, while the Duchess rest
lessly awaited the recovery Of her brace
let 1T home.
The great clock had Just tolled the hour
OF six when The bell Of the Dukes hotel
rang violently, and IN officer of the police
was ushered into the presence Of the
| Duchess.
WAS The bracelet covered - and
"Would they ilnprison the Scoundrel for
! the rest of his days." eagerly demanded
the Duchess
| With grave bow the officer stated that
the thief was taken. and upon his person
was found the bracelet. But the fellow
| stoutly insisted that he was not a thief,
and that the bracelet in his possession had
been in his family for many years Would
/ Madame intrust to him the mate to the
missing bracelet, that the identity might
/ be complete?
! Madame the Duchess. without 4 word,
unlocked her casket and placed in the
! hands of the trusty officer the second
| bracelet The officer with Il profound
bow left the apartment, and madame re-
/ tired once more--this time to sleep and to
dream Of her precious diamonds. When
the bell tollcd the hour of nine, the
Russian Ambassador, haggard and dis
ordered, entered his wite's apartments and
threw himself in despair into a chair
Madame opened her eyes, and with a smile
Of delight asked for the bracelets
''Satanr exclaimed the Duke. eve can
learn nothing of them.
Nv hat - shrieked the madame, "have
YOU not recovered it? The officer who
came for the other bracelet said the thief
had been taken and the bracelet found"
The Duke, with an exclamation of
amazement, sprang to his feet, and in a
husky voice, he sought his wife to explain.
In few words she told him. And then
with u groan the Duke dropped into 4
| seat.
Il see it all, said he 1.-THE rascals have
robbed you Of the second bracelet There
was no messenger sent for the bracelet
| The man to whom you gave it was no Off
Ger, but a bolder thiefthan he who robbed
YOU first
And SO it proved. Yhe bracelets were
never returned and the Russian Ambas-
sador recalls the last tete day of the fallen
Emperor with a sigh. for it made him 4
poorer man by many millions of francs
than he was when he handed his charming
wife into his carriage and bad his coach
man drive to the opera.
The London Telegraph tell. tale of sllf-
fering at sea endured by the crew of the
North German brig Calsow Stetsow, which
pie. When nearly 4 month out she was
overtaken by hurricane and went over
on her beam ends, where she lay for an
hour and half, the crew lashed on her
bulwarks, unable to cut away the stays.
Finally she relieved herself Of everything
but the lower mast, and righted, but she
~ loN III Illt Ntttcl lllttt liC 1lCN
to climb to the head Of the foremost to
avoid drowning. Laden with q buoyant
cargo, the brig did not founder, but wal
lowed in the trough Of the sea, washed by
the pillows, so that the five hands surviv
ing, with the captain and mate, had to
cling for life to the foretop. Six nights
and five days the pooriellows were kept i'll
their hard plight, without morsel TO eat
or a drop to drink, the sea perpetually
sweeping over their deck, and roaring
certain death if they tried to come
down to find q scrap Of nourishment.
On the sixth evening the pillows quieted,
and the weak wretches crept down and
rummaged for food. They found a case
Of preserved meat, some wine, lime juice
and beer, and it helped them to live. IN
spite Of this and 4 little more which they
aiterward extracted from the soaked cab
in. thoy baI cfilI q IroaIfi,l tima IN mass