The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-06-03

monds on TO Rome, where the family
would by that time be established. Well,
was a young fellow, just feeling my
oats. and probably l was not much cast
down at the prospect of spending a
month or two alone IN Paris, as you might
suppose. But doubt whether should
have attended to my ostensible business
80 faithfully as actually did had | not
been so greatly taken with my little
friend Rudolph. He and ''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 good deal of it was He was
thorough artist and enthusiast, and
seemed to care for nothing outside OF
his profession. He did not appear to me
to be in the way Of making much money
and it occurred to me that it might be
acceptable were l, in an unobtrusive
way, TO introduce him to some wealthy
customers. knew few people in Paris;
but there was q Mr.. Birchmore, an
American gentleman. staying at my
hotel, with whom | had fOregathered
over a cup Of coffee and cigar once or
twice; he was a handsome, middle aged
man, with An atmosphere Of refined af-
fluence about him such as would have
befitted a duke. Not bit like your ira
ditional Yankee; in fact, I'm not sure
that | should have suspected him If
hadn't seen his address-"Fifth avenue,
New York city, U. s. Ain the hotel
register about u week after my arrival
He was ar agreeable man enough,
though not at all the sort to take liber-
ties with: however, | made up my mind
that / would get him to Rudolph's on
the first pretext that offered
Well, had an excellent pretext be-
fore long. Mr.. Birchmore came into
the cafe one afternoon, with rather an
annoyed look. and made some inquiries
Of the waiter. Francois raised his eye
brows and shrugged his shoulders there
WIS some further conference, and then
he and Mr.. Birchmore began searching
about the floor Of the room. 1t presently
transpired that he had lost diamond
out of his ring. which had contained
three matched brilliants. 1t was no
where to be found.
al 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 was my opportunity. | set forth
the wisdom, skill and resources of my
little Saxon friend in glowing colors;
mentioned the work he was doing for
ME, and declared that if 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 ! induced
him to accompany me to the Latin
quarter, and at least make the attempt.
The next morning. accordingly, we set
forth, and as we sauntered along the
wide, pleasant boulevards our CONVEX
sation became more free and affable
than it had been hitherto. | found my
companion could be exceedingly enter
tanning when he chose it, and had vast
fund of experience and adventure to
draw upon. He had been almost every
where; he had made himself familiar
with all varieties of civilized and un-
civilized men; as a matter of course, too,
he was a 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 for Tennyson
and Swinburne, for Matthew Arnold
and Carlyle. he had, however, read and
appreciated Macbeth" and some other
of Shakespeare's plays; and he was well
acquainted with several Of the romances
of ''Unabashed Defoe." did not dis
cover all this in the course Of that one
stroll over to the Latin quarter, but II
leaked out during our subsequent &C
uuaintance, which was destined to be
come more intimate and prolonged thar
had any idea of then. AS have init
mated, Mr.. Birchmore was quite franz
and open in his talk. except upon one
topic-himself.
OF his inner life and circumstances
could learn nothing. Though he never
was obtusely reticent, yet he COL
trived never TO refer to his own private
affaira l could not satisfy myself
whether he were married or single
whether he were q Catholic OF atheist
hardly whether he were rich or poor
Some shadow Of grief, some incubus o
fear or calamity seemed to overwheln
him and impose silence. The most
could do was to draw differences, anC
my inference was that he was bach
elor, a millionaire, a skeptic and q mai
who at some period Of his life had com
United, either deliberately or by fore
of circumstances, terrible crimei YoI
will see presently how far my estimate
was from the truth, or how near to 1t.
However, am anticipating, as it is
We arrived in due time at Rudolph
little shop and l introduced him t.
Birchmore. l had previously told tn
latter about my diamonds and now
made Rudolph produce them. The NAL
Of the world examined the gems will
evident interest and with q knowledg
of their value and qualities which sur
prised me and caused the httle jewele
to eye my friend with keenness that
took to indicate jealousy.
These are all Indian stones" wa
Birchmore's first remark. There is no
an American among theln-Or, stay
What is thist neither an American nor al
Indianl An African, declare, and on
OF the finest have scent"
''Der Herr hat RechtI" muttered Ru
dolph. with a glance at me. Ger versteh
ja allies"
"You know German? He says wha
| you OOn KNOW ABOUT u1dulOuuS ISL
worth knowing" l put in Birchmor
nodded with half smile.
Il ought to know something abou
precious stones" he said II spent thre
years in a diamond mine for one thing.
He seemed on the point of saying more
but checked himself, and went on scruti
nizing the stones, most of which wer
already in their new setting. "A cost,
parure, that" he remarked at length
at wouldn't sell fer a penny unde
thirty thousand pounds"
Five hundred and eighty-five thou
sand francs, with the setting" replies
Rudolph, to whom the words had bee
addressed ''Monsieur's estimate woul'
have been correct but that this ston
here is little off color and this one ha
a slight flaw, which is now in part con
cealed by the setting"
You travel under proper precautions
trustY' said Birchmore after a pause
turning gravely to me. 81 know tn
confidence you young fellows have il
your courage and cleverness, but doze
or a score of thieves might conspire to
gether for such prize as this, an