The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-06-08
THE TIMES, NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA. JUNE g. 1880


morning" Eugene answered. "where
shall 1 meet your"
"To-morrow morning 2" said the stout
man deliberately. "AfraId 1 can't see
you then. ! s'pose you mean busi-
ness Yn
81 do" And Eugene smiled, In spite
of himself, at the others simplicity.
Wal, tell you what. You come
around to the Office of the A House
at half-past eight tomorrow night.
Bring the money with you, and the
ring Is yours"
I" will be there" Lawrence said,
briefly, and the conversation ended.
An hour before the appointed time
found Eugene impatlently pacing the
floor at the A. House, 1t seemed to
him that that hour never would pass,
and he constantly tortured himself with
the fear that the stranger would repent
himself of his bargain, and fail to ap-
pear. AT half-past eight precisely, how
ever, the man he waited for entered,
looking provokingly cool and uncon-
cerned
You kind of looked as If you was set
on havin' that ring when you spoke up
last night"
Then he drew it from his finger, and
placed 1t in Eugene's hand, receiving
the money In return. The diamond
sparkling in the gaslight, brilliant and
beautiful as of old. Eugene stood fond
ling 1t and feasting his eyes on it, while
the stranger stepped one side to count
the notes. Then the latter came back,
the two shook hands with expressions
of mutual goodwill, and separated.
Lawrence went straight to his room,
but could hardly sleep, SO excited was
he at obtaining the stone at last. 1t
was not until he came once more to look
at 1t by daylight, that he fancied, some
how or other, that it was less brilliant
than it use to be, and less clear. The
more he looked at it the more he became
convinced of this. What could it mean 7
A horrible suspicion seized him. He
went off directly after breakfast, and
asked an experienced jeweller his opin-
ion of the stone. The man looked at 1t
carefully long while, and then handed
it back.
at is the best imitation 1 ever saw"
he said.
Eugene stared at him angrily. "Do
you mean to tell me that it is paste ?"
he gasped at last.
Most certainly though if were not
an expert, should not dream of it. If
it were genuine, it would be worth eight
or ten thousand dollars. AS it is SO
good an imitation, and set in gold, it
may be worth fifty or sixty dollars.
Where did you get it ?"
But Eugene did not stop to tell the
jeweller where he got it. He went to
the police, and put them on the track
of stout, jolly-looking parsonage in a
gray business suit. They never found
him, though, and the twenty thousand
dollars was a dead loss, never to be made
| good.
Our hero often wondered If the count
was party to the fraud. The facts
were probably as follows: De Rhoan
was real count, and also real rascal.
The whole thing had been a cleverly
contrived and cunningly executed plot,
SO devised as to save the counts reputa-
ton, and yet enable him to profit by
Eugene's passion for diamonds. He
had purposely thrown himself in Eu-
genes way,-his reluctance to part with
the stone, and his final department from
his agreement, were mere pretence; and
the stout man was no doubt tool OF
his, sent to America for the express
purpose of tempting Lawrence with the
Golconda stone second time, and
changing it for the paste one at the last
moment. The fraud would have been
perpetrated at an earlier period but for
Eugene's sudden departure from Paris.
The young American, as he finally
saw through the whole plot, could moi
help admitting to himself that it wal
extremely we'll done and, he did moi
feel very much ashamed that he haG
allowed himself to be so imposed upon
Not one man in thousand, probably
could have helped himself under thu
same circumstances. The thing IN
regretted most, after all, was that he was
as far as ever from possessing the Col
conda Stone.