Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-23
INGENIOUS DIAMOND rHIEvrNa
Recalled by Seeing the Thieves In the Boston
Public Garden.

ASoENIOUs DIAMOND THtEvING
Recalled by Seeing the Thieves In the Boston
Public Garden.
Prom the Boston Herald
"where have eeen that face before?-
The answer to this inquiry, which every one
has some time put TO himself at the sight Of a
countenance once familiar, but Lost sight of for
many years, does not always recall as INTEREST,"
ing and timely q story as IL did 10 n gentleman
who sat on one OF the seats In the Public Garden
abort time ago, endeavoring 10 place" the
face Of q man on the next seat.
The person who had aroused the curiosity Of
the gentleman was a tall, elderly man Of grave
and distinguished bearing. His hair and beard
were silvery gray, and his eyes. which OCCASION
ally met those Of his neighbor In a seemingly
casual way. gave proof that their owner pos
sessed the faculty Of sclf-control in noticeable
degree. They were eyes which gave no sign Of
emotion whatever, and in them il was imposes
bile to read single token Of what thoughts
might be passing through the brain behind.
On the street with the stranger was a Young
woman some thirty years old, of prepossessinr
appearance and charming manner. Her at,
Effectiveness divided the attention Of the man
on the adjoining bench. who sat patiently puz.
King his memory for the identity Of the two
companions.
The watcher Of the twain was also visitor 70
Boston. He was a secret service agent from
Europe, whose business brought him frequently
70 American cities, and Boston had become well
known TO him In his twenty-eight wears prac.
tice Of his calling.
He was convinced from the first glance tina,
his two neighhors were people whom be had me,
professionally somewhere in Europe many
n he hTs~ Co.
and the circumstances which had brought him
INTO contact with them eluded him altogether
Az length their identity flashed upon him and
with II the conviction that the pairs visit 10
America BODIED no good 20 any one upon whom
they might bestow their intimate acquaintance
The man was one of the most accomplished
diamond thieves in the world. whose exploits
had reduced the wealth of many a foreign Jew
eler by thousands of dollars. and whose acts
had Deen successfully PLAYED throughout
Europe for more than thirty-live wears.
His companion had been his accomplice for
more than fifteen years, and passed as his
daughter in their various Joint operations
The presence of such skillfui pair of GRIM
fnals in Boston induced the detective to give
publicity to one of many of their succcssf nj
thefts accomplished in Naples in 1875.
One day the pair appeared at Neapolitan
hotel and registered rs an English gentleman
and daughter. lBy birth the man is a Pole,
nary versatility of manners would enable him
TO pass for any of several nationalities.l Among
their baggage were two rosewood chests of the
kind used by English officers In camp or bar
racks, and which, when Joined together, formed
bureau, with an open writing desk in its upper
part, capable OF folding upward. and closing
with spring lock.
They took two rooms communicating by a
door, against which, in the mans room this
piece OF furniture was placed. There SEEM
ingly nothing to attract suspicion in this, and
they conducted themselves in such an affable
manner that in a few weeks they had ingratiated
themselves with all the guests and attendants at
the hotel
The man soon became known at a leading
jewelers. as an expert purchaser Of diamonds.
His dealings were small, but always shrewd and
tudicious, and always paid for cash down 1t
was his custom to drop into the richly furnished
store, accompanied by his daughter CD, who
while papa" bargained in the coolest and
most businesslike way for a stone which struck
his fancy, did not fail to exert the influence of
her engaging manners and bewitching ewes
upon the susceptible merchant
In a short time the man had established his
credit sohdly with the Ieweler. and then he
went straight to work to carry out his scheme.
He called on the jeweler one day to negotiate
Tor diamond necklace of great value, which
the teweler had shown him before and pressed
him to buy for his charming daughter The
latter was not with him this time
Papa said he wanted to surprise the girl
with the gift on her bridal day. which was near
at hand, and warned the merchant that the
purchase must be kept strictly a secret between
them A bargain was finally struck. 1000
francs were given in part payment, and the
necklace was left for certain alterations, which
were to be completed in few days
On the day in question the young lady called
on the jeweler, saying that her father was un-
well and wished to see him on business. OF
course, the teweler went, bringing the diamond
necklace with him. He found his customer sit
sing at the writing desk, and after some CONVEX
sation the subject of the business between them
was broached. The diamonds were placed on
the desk, and the supposed customer began to
count out the payment.
At this interesting moment the door of the
room was opened and the girl, radiant with
smiles, bounded in. She paused on seeing the
teweler and pretended to retire. As the dia-
monds were to be q surprise, of course, she
must not see them. SO papa" hastily closed up
the desk, diamonds, money and all
The merchant was entirely unsuspicious of
anything wrong in this. and even when the girl
told her father that the Duchess awaited
bis immediate presence in the reception room
no thought Of theft entered the jeweler' 8
mind.
Papa" made feint Of impatience at the
duchess interruption, but went out to see her.
leaving the girl to entertain her caller, which
she did in her most captivating style.
Suddenly, pretending to take offense at a re-
mark Of her companion, she rose hurriedly and
swept out Of the room in seeming indignation
to fetch her father. The jeweler was uneasy,
not on account of the diamonds but for having
unwittinsly offended the maiden and, he spent
some time In framing the most humble apollo
gies and explanations for the father Ii was
only after watching an hour or so for the re-
turn of his customer that an inkling of the
truth dawned upon him, and an examination of
the desk showed that its precious contents had
been extracted through an opening on the
other side, reached by removing the panel Of
the door leading into the girls room.
Everything had been successfully planned
and timed and before the alarm vas given and
search for the thieves begun the latter were well
beyond the reach of capture.
La CARTE's LUCKY FALL,