The Opelousas courier., 1895-03-16

Diamonds, by jingo!" I cried as ]
started back in amazed.
| thought it best to keep my discov'
cry to myself. .
The bag, I guessed, was probably the
property of a jewelers. traveler-a
traveller in a large way of business,
too, thought I, as l peered into it in
the least exposed corner Of the Office
and found it almost full of what. little
asI knew about precious stones, l felt
certain were valuable jewels.
Rings, brooches, bracelets, loose
| stones, at least one necklace, a gold
watch and chain, some bank notes and
a considerable sum of sovereigns were
all mixed up together in a chaotic con-
fusion which seemed at least incon-
sistent with their habits. I began to
doubt whether it was consistent with
honest possession of, at all events, the
contents of the bag on the part of my late
| fellow passenger-the man who was
booked for London, and who had been
asleep when l left the train at Thur
ley. No doubt he was awake and also
aware of his loss by this time. What a
state of mind he must be in, too. But,
just as l was trying to realize his state
Of mind a murmur of gruff voices and a
shutting of heavy feet in the yard out
| side reminded me that it was time to
pay the men.
Hurriedly SUNNI oning the foreman,
and telling him that a mistake had
been made in supplying me with money,
I went down into the village, and,
| after some trouble, succeeded in collect
ing enough silver and copper to serve
my purpose. Then with that precious
bag out of sight between my feet, l
| paid the men.
AS soon as / had finished my task /
returned per mineral train to Thurley,
and there I broke my journey. On
calmly reviewing all the circumstances
of the case in the s~eclusion of the
brake van I had decided that the police
rather than the railway authorities
ought to be first informed of my mis-
take, and the inspector to whom I told
my story agreed with me.
II am very glad you came straight
me-" said he, turning the contents of
the bag out on his desk. eff you can
+. 6old your tongue for a week or two it's
just possible we may catch the gen
tleman who put this nice little lot to-
gether."
"You think they have been stolen,
then?" 1 asked.
Think" he repeated, smiling at my
simplicity. Il know, my boy. And
when and where, too; though, unfor-
tunately, not by whom. Run your
eyes over this"
"This" was a list Of jewels and other
valuables missing from Erlingthorpe,
Lord Yerbury's place, where, the in
spector said, a we'll planned robbery
had been carried out the Thursday
evening.
"You seemed to have nailed a lot"
he went on; "but we may as well go
through the articles seriatim."
We did SO, and found there was
nothing missing except the money /
had taken to pay the men.
"Now, look here, young man. he
went on, eying me keenly; I'm not in
charge Of this case-yet-but, if you'll
do as I tell you, 1 hope 1 may be in the
curse of a few days. There's a tidy
reward offered for the recovery of the
property, as you see. That, l take it,
you've earned already; but are you
game to help me catch the man?
There's a further reward for nabbing
him, which, of course, l can't touch
oficially-and don't particularly want.
My aim is promotion. Do you under
stand?'
81 think So" said /; land / am will
ing to help you all 1 can. What do you
want me do?"
Nothing, he replied; "just literally
nothing. Go home. Keep a still tongue.
in your head and a sharp eye on the
agony columns of the London papers,
and wait till you hear from me. FIJI
take charge of these articles and give
you a receipt for them, but don't be
surprised if you see them still adver-
tised as missing"
A few days later the inspector set
his trap. It took the shape of an adj
vertisement begging the gentleman
"AVl1 "l1OuA ". ". 1A1dutC1V CAtiY ca
changed bags to communicate with G.
G. at the address he would fndin g. C.'s
pocketbook.
Personally, l didn't think our. fish
would be foolish! enough to rise to this
bait, but my friend the inspector was
more hopeful.
Luckily for us, Mr.. Corner" said he,
when I took advantage Of my next
visit to, the quarries to call upon him,
there's always a sort of warp or twist
in the mind of the habitual criminal
which prevents him from believing in
the honesty of other folks. Now, not
a soul but you and I and the chief con-
stable knows those jewels are as good
as back on Lady Yerbury's dressing
table, Oh wherever she's in the habit Of
leaving en- lying about. Therefore
the hue and cry after them's not likely
todie away yetawhile, and therell be a
genuine ring about it which should per-
suade our unknown friend that you've
got EN- and mean to convert 'em to
your W use, az we say in the profess
sion, but, being an amateur, don't
know how to go about turning 'em into
more cash than the reward comes to,
and that, consequently, you r anx-
ious to come to terms with him. See?"
For a month Lady Yerbury's dia-
monds were sought in vain and for a
&c. c." continued to appeal to
his late fellow traveller, also in vain,
but at the end of that time his patience
was rewarded by the appearance of an
advertisement, telling him if he really
meant business, to write to .sB. H. at
q given address.