The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-08-11
BIC swINDLERs.
TExchange.i

lice. Cation, in person, is a shor- ehunky-built, little man, with auburn Al, and very large saucer eyes. He has strong way of looking al you, as If ae were mentally comparing you with a coz. cealed photograph.
 Smoke. Oul, monsieur. but not ciya, cite. If monsieur has good Englisa cigar l will take one. An, thanks ore thousand thanks!7 and with a sigh of contentment Cation sank into deep arm. chair. and with clear Havana between his lips and his beloved Rhine wine be side him, he began to talk.
 es, do come across some Queer ones but detective work is much harie now than when 1 became a mouchar first"
 @How is that."
 Well. 1t is. think. from the super!a, travelling facilities and the almost ,ot,l abolition of the passport system. Th.. was impossible few years ago. Ano,he reason Is the superior class of men ,h |. now undertake the big schemes. There i IS as much capital embarked in ore e, these as would make an ordinary mas fortune
 What nationality do you think. h., Cation. produces the cleverest thieves
 Every country has its speciality E which l, exoels. In my opinion. the leading burglars and pickpockets ate Englishmen. the leading forgers Amer. 1ans bu, the most successful confidence men. sho frequent wa,ering-plaees. se. dom or ever get found out. and general, succeed rnally in making snug compe ,ence. are Frenchmen.''
 How abou. Greeks"
 An. the Greeks have bad name. b they go in for the loves, kind ot hber,,r ism. They have no, the pluck to go | for anything big. An, give me the Americans for anything big. They will make one grand coup or nothing a, all admire them. monsieur. l oanno, tind them out.
 How do you account. then. for the Frenchmen being. as you said just now. the most successful in the long run =
 The language. mons eur. the lan- guage. It is the language of La Belle France that does 1t all. A really good French gree. as a rule. frequents the watering places of either England. Ger many or America. He is we'll dressed and has plenty of money. and manages 10 wriggle his way into the best SC, here as the count this or that But the best set a, places of that kind worship rank. If. al the same time, there is really money behind 1t. The count speaks French. which is the language of heroes. wh.ie they only speak English. He IS an adept in all games at cards. and if he gets hold of l pigeon he can generally pluck him. Now. If he were an English man or an American he would find 1t ditncui, 10 do this. for ii he 20, hold ot any one with the leas, chic they would de'ee; solecisms IF his speech or man. nets which would al once betray hin, lac he generally keeps out of the way O, ne pes. oi his own countrymen. The c.everes; man ot this class Is one whose real name Is Jacques Baron he has dczen cf aliases. lie x was who sue ceeded n swindling the late duke of b- with diamond, and he mas always managed to keep out of the clutches ot the law. The way he did it was this The late duke. as every one knew. was passlonately fond of diamonds, and was one ot the greatest collectors in Europe. One day after dinner at the Hotel de he noticed tha, the man sitting next to him wore magnificent diamond ring, and presently he requested permission to examine It. which was at once granted The duke expressed his admiration of the stone. which he pronounced to be one of the tirss water. Upon this the stranger remarked:
 Excuse me your grace, but happen to know who you are, and know also. that you are one of the bes, judges of diamonds m the country. am aston- ished at your pronounclng this stone and of the firs, water when know |, to be only paste. A very good imitation. certainly. but still only paste.''
 The duke denied that this was possi- b.e. and requested permission to submit the stone 10 lap:day, which permission was a, once granted. The lapidary pro nounced the stone genuine. and worth at ieas, 5000 francs. On the dukes re- turn. he informed the stranger of the re- { suit ot the interview. He smiled incred- ulously. and again repeated that beth the duke and the lapidary were mis- taken. and that it was a paste diamond. A; this the duke became ne,tled and said:
 a mond. will give you soooo francs for II,
 No. replied the stranger, there are few honest men rem aiming in the world, and certainly will not sell you a paste diamond for a real one. Cpon which the duke. thoroughly aroused now, said:
 Well. l will give you 5000 francs for that paste diamond
 An, that IS quite different story. II you choose to give me 5000 francs tor a paste diamond, and will give me a written guarantee that you buy it. as- sunng you that it IS a paste, then I will do it.
 The duke agreed to this. and an agreement was drawn out and signed and the money paid over. At the same time the stranger took from his finger the ing. and placing 1t in a ring-box. handed i, to