Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-08-15
and the little man twisted uneasil7 in

his chair.
Not so bad as you may imagine. BE-
calm, my friend the parties that robbed
the Clifton bar will not be likely
to pay you visit
"Ah! [ hone YOUR surmlses are cor
rect, but pray tell me your reasons for
thinking as you do.
Certainly. In The first place the
] bank robbery is the work of one man,
and he is not professional burglar.
In the second place, that man cares
more for greenbaclSs than he does for
gold ornaments, and would not plumber
your place for all there is in it. In
! fact, this very same party owned a
diamond, but threw it away rather than
carry it with him. 1t is very pretty, is
it not?"
And I held up the stone to him.
The jeweler took it, examined 1t
closely, and returned it to me, with the
remark: IA is, as you say, a very
pretty stone, and, I might add. very
valuable for a gem Of its size. That is
your clue. / presume?'
Yes; the only clue happen to pos
sess. Now, then, am anxions to find
the ring to which this stone belongs,
and YOU will please allow me to see the
rings that have beeL left here for re-
setting since the robbery"
with pleasure. Excuse 70 one
moment.
And my friend disappeared, return
ing minute later, with a number of
rings, on tray, which he placed on a
table, and began to examine the labels
attached to them.
"Some of these rings have been in
our possession number of days. All!
here is one received this morning.
january 12th-diamond setting-E.
Baker"
And he read the inscription.
l took the ring from his hand and
examined it. 1t was a finely chased
ring Of virgin gold, with the stone miss
ing. | fitted the diamond in the set
ting, and passed it to my friend.
"By Joye, Tracy, that is the very
ring you are in search of! Now let me
see"
And he went nearer the light.
Yes, there can be no doubt about it.
The stone fits into the setting nicely,
and, now that l think OF it, it is of the
same size and quality ordered"
what name did you say the party
gave?"
Baker-Emily Baker"
Emily Baker! Then it was a lady?"
Il presume SO; at all events, she
looked and acted like one."
when is she to call for the ring?'
Tomorrow afternoon"
L must see her when she calls, and
in order that L may play my cards to
better advantage, shall enteryour serv-
ice as clerk. What do you say?"
II ain perfectly willing, but take care
what you do, old boy; there may pos
sibly be some mistake"
SThat is very true, and if such should
be the case You may rest assured that
shall discover it in time. Did L under
stand you to say that you had promised
to have the ring ready tomorrow after
"No, sir; I said nothing of the kind.
She said she would call for it tomorrow
afternoon, and I simply nodded as
sent"
"Then lay this ring aside and leave
the rest to me. ] shall call again to-
morrow: until then adieu.''
And passed into the street.
] had thus far met with better sue
cess than [ had anticipated, and was
nowise elated or thrown off nv guard.
for knew that l had a sharper to deal
with, whom it would be difficult mat
ter to o,ltwit.
During the day I visited several
places where 'ye game of faro' was in
full blast, and picked several items of
interest, all Of which tended to con-
vince NE that [ was on the right scent
Early next morning 1 repaired to my
friends establishment, and was as
signed to a position behind the counter,
where, it is needless to say, [ felt ill at
ease; but years Of training and patient
study had enabled me to act almost any
role to perfection, and it was not
long before the feeling of uneasiness
wore off.
The day dragged slowly along, for
trade was not very brisk, and the sales
men had but little to do besides read
ing the papers and yawning at each
other across the cases.
-Four o'clock! Would the owner of
the ring ever come? l asked myself
the question hundred times, and was
on the point of doing so again, when the
door slowly opened and a heavily yelled
figure glided in, approached the coun-
ter, and inquired, i'll somewhat hest
tating voice:
"Is Mr.. in?"
"No, Madam, he is not" I replied.
Can do anything for you?"
Il dare say you can. I left ring in
ting, which was to be ready this after
noon. You will please let me have it,
together with the BILL"
"What name?" / inquired, bringing
out the tray containing the articles left
for repairs.
Emily Baker"
Emily Baker" 1 unused, picking up
several rings and examining them. 1T
does not appear to be among these.
All! | recollect what has become of it."
and l replaced the tray, and took from
the glass case small box, removed the
lid and exposed the ring to view.
is that your ring, madame"
1T is. Why has it not been attended
to?''