The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1893-12-21
CHAPTER VII
THOSE FELLOWS rLAyrD II on roc
MIGHTY FINE"

mighty fne.h
Detective Manson was dumfounded,
and sitting alone that evening with Chief
varick he made known his perplexity,
giving the particulars Of his strange ex-
perience after being put on the case Of
the rajah's ruby. The chief listened
with his usual impassiveness, but did
not allow syllable Of the story to es-
cape him. Once or twice he smiled at
some portions Of the narrative and occa-
sionally asked an incisive question.
ibid it not strike you as singular" he
asked, "that those two men, natives Of
India, as they doubtless were. should be-
gin talking in the English tongue after
reaching their room at the hotel in Wing
feldY'
Eyes, II did seem odd, but did not
attach much weight to it. Since the
language was Of great use to them in
this country, 1t would have been natural
to practice it when alone"
"Did they seem to be In need Of much
practice? In other words. did you find
any difficulty in understanding them?"
"None at all"
Would 1t not have appeared more
natural for them, when they found
themselves alone. to use the tongue in
which they could express their thoughts
the more readilyy"
"Yes. except for the reason have
named"
.And then 1t seems they were talking
about this wonderful gem, the very OBJ
ject of which you were seeking informa-
ton"
THAT was the most natural thing in
the world. since they had travelled half
way around the globe to steal it,
"Possibly, but in their brief converse
ton they were kind enough to give You
the precise information you were seek
ing. Can you conceive 1t possible that
they suspected you were listening at tho
door,"
A disagreeable light began breaking in
upon the mind Of Max Manson.
II understand You to intimate that the
whole thing was gotten up for my benz
ct, or rather my INJURY
Don't you think it has that looki
Those people are cunning mighty cum
ming. They suspected you the moment
you entered the hotel where they were
stopping. They We're convinced that you
were after the rajah's ruby. Fearing
that you might take extreme measures
against them and cause their detention,
they sought only to gain time, so as TO be
able to slip away undetected. They
| therefore adopted course intended to
make you believe you had actually re-
covered the gem, calculating that the in
terval between that and the knowledge
Of your error would give them the oppor-
tunity they needed, and it looks as If they
were not much off in their calculations I"
But that false ruby-that bit of col
ored glass2"
Are you not aware that that artifice
Is very common onef All exceptionally
valuable gems have their duplicates or
limitations, mainly designed to battle
covetous thieves. The owner Of noted
jewel keeps it securely locked up In
some unsupported place perhaps, while
the comparatively worthless imitation is
left where the burglar is most likely to
look for it. Many time the lady who
appears at some grand entertainment
finds her jewels the envy and admira-
ton of all eyes, when in truth the real
ones are at home locked in the safe or at
the bank. while the crowd are feasting
their vision on the clever limitations"
But whence came this counterfeit
rajah's rubyY'
Chief Varick shrugged his shoulders.
II can only guess. They may have
! = ..-cs.ght it with them from India for the.
purpose Of ; s,,C.ss.tiiHsg it to the yery use
| which served them SO well while they
made haste out of the country with the
genuine gem, or 1t may have been that
the late Miss Livermore received the
counterfeit with the genuine from her
ancestors. and those cunning Asiatics
were themselves tricked by a clever arti-
fee. Always dreading visit from bur-
glars. and especially so after receiving
the warning letter which came into the
hands Of Simpson, it surely would have
been natural for her to put it forward
where the scamps would be likely to lay
their hands on it with little trouble"
But why didn't she place the real one
tn some bank or safe deposit company
| asked Max Manson, impatient at the
growing certainty of the trick that had
been played on him.
"You are asking me questions which
should more properly be addressed to the
men whom I sent to Ellenville." was the
pointed response Of the chief
"Well. confess that more than one
feature Of this COMPOUNDED business per-
plexes me. Simpson strongly suspects
that DR.. Maidhoff Is mixed up in IT.