The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1886-08-06

false Every diamond was paste
and, indeed speaking generally, the
only genuine part of the booty was
the gold setting. 1t happened unfor.
tunately, that Mr.. Millicent, acting
upon the disnterested and friendly ad-
vice of Mr. Facet, had not encountered
himself with bulky or heavy articles.
He had selected his plundcr with dis
elimination, choosing certain stones
and cases which the jeweller had de-
scribed as worth all the rest of the
goods put together. BY so doing, as
it now appeared, he had inadvertently
carried off large assortment of spur
ious jewelry, y,along with very little that
was valuable
Poor Mr.. Millicent was so upset at
this unpleasant news that he called the
Hebrew gentleman some very shock.
ing namts, and brought tears to his
venerable eyes. In fact Mr.. Millicent
was fairly beside himself with rage
and humiliation. and his comrades,
who were delighted at the turn of
events. If he had been wise Mr.. Mill
cent would have swallowed his dis
appointment, for though his prize had
turned out to be comparatively value
less, it nevertheless would realize
pretty substantial sum. But, unfortun-
ately, the burglar was very sensitive
upon the subject of his professional
reputation, which. he foresaw, would
suffer considerably from the trick that
had been played upon him. lie
realized with painful clearness that he
had been made catspaw of by the
sagacious Mr.. Facet who had, no
doubt, desired to account for the dis
appearance of certain articles which he
had himself appropriated. The idea
of having been deceived ny a person
who had come 10 him in the guise of
friend, and particularly a person quite
outside the profession, made Mr. Milli-
cents blood boil with Indignation, and
he resolved that Mr. Facet should pay
dearly for what he had DONE
lie was for long time unable, how
ever, TO frame any definite scheme of
revenge, for a very little reflection suf
feed to convince him of his helpless
ness. The circumstances of the case
were so peculiar that he had no redress
lie could not strike at Mr.. Facet by
disclosing his perfdity without incur
ring personal risks. TO do him ius-
tico, Mr.. Milicent was not a blood
thirsty person, and though he carried
revolver in the exersise of his pro
iess'on, he always shrank from using
1t. He even preferred to avoid vio-
lence OF any kind, and for that reason
he resisted bis first impulse of confront
ing Mr.. Facet and openly accusing him
OF his treacherv. 1t was hardly prob
able that any useful result would accrue
from this, and the jeweller seemed
quite capable of knocking man down.
The idea which finally evolved itself
from Mr.. Millicent's brain was to re.
cover the booty which he considered
rightly belonged to him. He had
read with interest thereported proceed
ings of Mr.. Facets bankruptcy, and
had observed how the iewcller had pa
thetically described himself as having
been completely ruined by that heart
less robbery. But. with his peculiar
knowledge of facts, Mr.. Mllicent had
a very shrewd suspicion that Mr.. Facet
had made provision for rainy day,
and that somewhere or other he pos
sessed a valuable store of precious
stones.
Mr.. Millicent asccrtained without
difficulty that Mr.. Facet resided al
BALKAN, and he devoted his leisure
time to reconnoitering the jewellers
trim little villa. There was a convent
ent field at the back of the house, and
MIR. Millicent studied the beauties of
nature and the habits of Mr.. Facet
and his household with quiet persist
ency. His natural history studies are
not recorded, but he observed that Mr..
Facet had passion for orchids. There
was a small greenhouse at the end of
the garden, which was devoted to the
culture OF that fragile flower, and here
MIR. Facet used to spend hours logeth-
er potterlng about among his beloved
plants, and jealously excluding even
the gardener from its sacred precincts.
lie used to keep the key of this glass
house in his pocket, and never intrust-
ed 1t to any one.
After awhile Mr.. Milicent was
seized with strong desire to explore
his holy of holles. To gentleman
of his ingenuity the locked door was
but tritlng obstacle. He procured a
private key, and for several evenings
he searched cautiously about the floor
with dark lantern. 1t was necessary
to use the utmost caution, and Mr..
Mllllctnts proceedings were tedious
and wearisome. He groped about
upon his hands and knees, sounding
the earth beneath the stages, inch by
inch, with an iron probe His self.lm-
posed task seemed as Improbable as it
was monotonous and fatiguing, but at
length his exertions apparently attained
their object. One evening he uttered
a sudden exclamation, and fell to tear
ing up the moist earth with his fingers.
Then he cast a ray of light from his
lantern into the cavity he had formed,
and disclosed small oblong box, COW
Sicu III CdlN DIS. w llnOuI more auO he
pulled IL out, placed it under his arm
beneath bis coat, shut the side of his
lantern, and cautiously made his way
out OF the greenhouse.
Without even waiting, on this occa.
sion, to close the door behind him, Mr..
Mlllicent turned to fly, when he heard
a footstep on the gravel Ialk in his
rear, and the next moment hand was
laid roughly on his collar.
"You william !! painted voice, which
he recognized. "Who are YOU? What
were you doing in my orchid house ?"
LET me go!' exclaimed Mr.. Milli-
cent, setting his teeth, as he recognized
MIR. Facet.
He made desperate wrench as he
spoke, and almost succeeded in freeing
himself; but in doing so he dropped
the little canvas covered box, and
though he stopped and recovered it di-
rectly, the ieweller evidently perceived
what 1t was. In an instant his strong
fingers had prasned the hurolar hy tba