San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-02-10


II viii take my oath that l saw the
High Street as started to come here"
CHAPTER XIII.
II advise you, sir, said the officer, ''to
take the advice of Sir Edmund's solicitor,
Mr.. Wray."
l agreed, and he called in the lawyer.
l told him, without reserve, all that had
happened, showing him the leather case
had taken from the hole where Brace
had placed it."
"A couple of cunning scoundrelsl' he
exclaimed; "their pretended suspicion of
each other was, of course, intended to
blind you to their completely, while each,
by duplicating the other, diverted sus.
picion from himself"
Il was never in my life so completely
deceived" l said. brace seemed to me
the embodiment of rough honesty. ]
liked the man, and it was painful shock
to me when found him unfaithful and
thief"
HE is worse than that, Mr.. Thorne; he
is murderer at heart; for there can be
no doubt it was he who attempted youI
life; it was sheer impossibility for the
other man to do it, We have heard the
story of the robbery from Sir Edmund.
The intelligence that planned the attack
was doubtless Van Hoeck's. He looks
like a man of subtle intellect. l do not
see what other part he could have played
in this affair"
'Sir Edmund told me, sir" said the Of
ficer, THAT on your return from the left
wing, you heard snoring in Brace room
II certainly did
THAT could very well have been Van
Hoeck, who had taken Braces place
while he slipped off into your room-an.
other proof that the two were acting to-
gether.'
Precisely" said Mr.. Wray; and then
with an air OF business-''Well, now,
what is to be done? that is the question.
The evidence is insufficient to charge
either of the men even with being con
cerned in the robbery. The leather case
proves nothing. They might declare
they found it empty, and have concealed
it through fear of accusation, or they
might all three swear your statement to
be false, and absolutely accuse you of
being yourself the thief. And until we
can substantiate the charge by positive
proof, we must be careful to conceal our
suspicious from them. If they think
they are likely to be brought to Justice,
they will quit the country by the first
steamer that leaves Southampton-and
we cannot stop them. The thing that
must be done at once is to search for the
diamond. THAT is your affair."" he said,
addressing the officer; undoubtedly they
have placed it somewhere in Southamp-
ton, in readiness to take if fight becomes
necessary"
I'm have all the kens searched before
the morning"
THAT is part of your business, of
course. At the same time, would sug.
gest that 1t is Of far more importance to
watch the men themselves. Van Hoeck
would not trust the diamond to the keep
ing of ordinary thieves receivers; il
would be safer merely laid under plant
in the gardens down by the dock. You
may be sure he has the ingenuity to sug.
gest safe place for its keeping"
an have some plain-clothes men on
the first thing tomorrow morning, and
I'd better go and telegraph to Scotland
Yard at once"
"As soon as possible. But, not to
alarm the men, you had better make
pretence of continuing your investiga-
tons, and avail yourself of some plausi-
BILE pretext for returning to Southamp-
ton. Everything at this moment de-
ponds upon keeping Van Hoeck and
Brace in ignorance of our suspicion. And
with that view," he added, turning to
me, 81 counsel you, Mr.. Thorne, to con-
ceal your own feelings. Not one of these
three ought to see any change in your
demeanor toward them"
This was sound advice, and | recogniz-
ed the Importance of conforming with it:
but l am the worst actor in the world
where my feelings are concerned, and
my very soul revolted against the men
who had plotted together to take my life
from the mere insensate greed of gain.
/ felt more bitterly toward Brace than
toward his accomplice, not because l
thought Van Hoeck less guilty, but be-
cause / had felt more kindly toward the
Judge, to whom | seemed linked by the
brotherhood of labor.
kept out of his way when we return
ed to the library and avoided looking at
him, lest he should perceive that | was
no longer his friend. But knew he had
his keen eyes upon me, and was reading
the signs of my newly born aversion, and
this made my acting worse.
When the officer had completed his in
vestigation, he said sagaciously, as he
closed his notebook
81 have sufficient information for my
present purpose. | may not be able to
discover the perpetrators of this outrage
and robbery Immediately, but | think l
shall be in position to tell you some
thing about the lost diamond within
twenty-four hours"
Sir Edmund accompanied him to the
ha nd ha
seat he had occupied at the head of the
long table, Brace rose, and placing him
self at the opposite end, inclined his head
first to the baronet, then to the right and
to the left,
esquire and gentleman of this commit
tee," he said, ~ don't want to speak dis
respect full of the police, but the intelli-
gent officer who has just left us, as if
he'd got hold of the tail end of a rocket,
and meant follerin' it right up, and hold
in tight on till it bust, amt goin to do
any good for hisself or anyone else in this
business. The big diamonds lost, end he
amt going to find it in twenty-four hours,
nor in twenty -four years. Eff it was a
haystack, / don't say but what, with the
help of Providence-and good lot of it
he might be up to the job he's onder-
took. But it amt haystack. End eff
he was to grind up the whole of this
country, end every blessed thing upon it
small, puddled it in clean fume, and
sifted the tailins careful, he wouldn't find
it. End these bein' my views, it stands
to reason that j amt going to hang about
here lookin' at the place where I've come
to grief, like an old female what slipped
off the sidewalk on bit of orange-peel.
With your permission, Squire, I'm goin'
away right Off"