Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-04-24

accurately followed. When all was fin
ished was TO pay the bill and bring
the diamonds on 20 Rome, where the
family would by that time be estao-
llshed. Well, was young fellow,
Just feeling my oats, and probably l
was not much cast down at the prospect
Of spending month or two alone In
Paris, as you might suppose. But L
doubt whether ! should have at
tended to my ostensible business so
faithfully as I actually did had l not
been so greatly taken with my little
friend Randolph. He and l "twigged"
one another, as boys say, from the first.
used to sit and watch him work FOR
hours at a time, and as he worked he
would talk and very queer, captivating
talk a great deal Of it was. He was a
thorough artist aud enthusiast, and
seemed TO care for nothing outside OF
his profession. He did not appear to
me TO be ia the way Of making much
money and it occurred to me that 1t
might be acceptable were /, in an unoo-
trusive way, TO introduce him to
some wealthy customers. knew
few people in Paris; but
there was a Mr.. Birchmore, an
American gentleman, staying at my no.
tel, with whom 1 had foregathered over
a cup OF coffee and a cigar once or
twice; he was handsome, middle-aged
man, with an atmosphere OF refined al
fluence about him such as would have
befitted duke. Not a bit like your
traditional Yankee; in fact, I'm not sure
that | should have suspected him II l
hadn't seen his address-"Flfth avenue,
New York city, U. ). Ain the hotel
register about a week after my arrival.
He was an agreeable man enough,
though not at all the sort TO take liber-
ties with; however, made up my mind
that I would get him TO Rudolph'S on
the first pretext that offered.
Sell, 1 had an excellent pretext be-
fore long. Mr.. Birchmore came into the
cafe one afternoon, with rather an an
nOyed look, and made some inquiries OF
the waiter. Francois raised his eye
brOws and shrugged his shoulders; there
was some further conference, and then
be and Mr.. Birchmore began searching
about the floor OF the room. 1t present.
ly transpired that he had lost diamond
out of his ring, which had contained
three matchless brilliants. 1t was no.
where TO be found.
~ don't mind the loss Of the stone it.
self" said Mr.. BirchmOre at last, sitting
down near my table, but it's one Of a
set matched with great difficulty, and
I'm afraid may never replace it,"
Here vas my opportunity. set forth
the wisdom, skill and resources OF my
little Saxon friend in glowing colors;
mentioned the work he was doing for
rue, and declared that il any man in
Europe could help Mr.. Birchmore to re-
pair his loss, Rudolph was he. Mr..
Birchmore at first paid little heed to my
representations, but finally l induced
him to accompany me to the Latin
quarter, and at least make the attempt
The next morning, accordingly, we set
forth, and IS we sauntered along the
wide, pleasant boulevards our CONVEX
satiOn became more free and affable
than IL had been hitherto. / found my
companion could be exceedingly enter
tanning when he choose IL, and had a
vast fund Of experience and adventure
TO draw upon. He had been almost
everywhere; he had made himself IA
milisr with all varieties OF civilized and
uncivilized men;'as a matter Of course,
too, he was versatile linguist.
The only direction in which he gave
any evidence Of comparative deficiency
was in that OF literature and the fine
arts. His life had been essentially an
active one; he cared little forlTennySon
and Swinburne, for Matthew Arnold
and Carlyle. He had, however, read and
Macbeth" and some other
OF Shakespeare's plays; and he was we'll
acquainted with several Of the romances
OF "Unbashed Defoe." / did not dis
cover all this 10 the course Of that one
stroll over TO the Latin Quarter, but 1t
leaked out during our subsequent &C
which was destined to be-
come more intimate and prolonged than
/ had any idea of then. As l have init
mated, Mr.. Birchmore was quite frank
and open in his talk, except upon one
tOpic-himself.
OF his inner life and circumstances l
could learn nothing. Though he never
was Obtusely reticent, yet he contrived
never to refer to his own private af-
fairs. l could not satisfy myself
whether be were married or single,
whether he were a Catholic or atheist
hardly whether be were rich or poor.
Some shadow Of grief, some incubus of
lear or calamity seemed to Overwhelm
him and impose silence. The most
could do was to draw differences, and
my inference was that he was bach
elor, a millionaire. a skeptic and man
who at some period Of his life had COM
mitted, either deliberately or by force
OF circumstances, a terrible crime! You
will see presently how far my estimate
was from the truth, or how near to it.
However, l am anticipating, as it is.
We arrived in due time at Rudolph's
little shop and l introduced him to
Birchmore. / had previously told the
latter about my diamonds and now 1
made Rudolph produce them. The man
of the world examined the gems with
evident interest and with a knowledge
OF their value and qualities which sur
prised me and caused the little jeweler
TO eve my friend with keennesS that
took 70 indicate jealousy.
These are all Indian stones" was
Birchmore's first remark. "There is
not an American among them-or, stay!
What is this? neither an American nor
an Indian. An African, declare, and
one OF the finest have SEEN"
Der Herr hat Recht" muttered Ru-
dolph with a glance at me. "Er ver-
steht ia allies"
"You know German? He says what
you don't know about diamonds isn't
worth knowing" put in. Birchmore
nodded with half smile.
II ought to know something about