Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-05-17
CHAPTER VIII


 CHAPTER VIII.
 WAS tnn familiar wi;h tlio appear anco uf thr great rwly tO mistake an- other for il, fir l duCAt N hlihvr 1t has Iato iI rVi>ir; <, The irln shown rlo by BurlinS w..S a magnificent specimen, but ut most II WIS ID lnrro than two thirds tho size of the stone sold to Sand hu>rn.
 My chagrin anl a>tonishment were deep, but 1 yelled them under expres- sion> of admiration of tho stone. which l took from itS box and held up to the light and fondlcd it ai if lrath to let it G0.
 What do you intend to do with it, Burlin2:'
 It goes to Amsterdam by steamer this afternoon. Sorry to part with 1t, but business iS business"
 Curling was of frugal turn, and thcro could te no doubt that he would mako handsome thing from his bar gain. Such a stone would not wait long for customer, and he would doubtless obtain three or four times as much as he paid.
 wonder whether the suspicious cir culustancc~ clinsing to the gem could have been any spur tu his haste.
 Here is ntw turn of the wheel, 1 reflected as l walked back to my store MT Howard WAS the owner of two ruNirS of unaPpruachaule merit. Can it b2 that he has any more slowed away i'll that travelling bag: Possibly ho has duLln or a score, and some of them may he bigger than any he has display cd aS yet.
 of course he managed to get posses sion uf Mana Sahib's ruby. He is too cautious to offer it i'll New York. It will % to snIno Parisiau dealer or some wealthy EngliShman or German. Sand huSen is not likely 10 sec it again.
 Curling called for mo on his way home, and We rode up town together. flo took occasion to tell mo that the ruby had been sent that afternoon to Amsterdam. and am sure he felt that great load had been lifted from his mind.
 Human nature seeks confdant. am told that q largo number of crimi- uals CIVIC their punishment to this law, which leads them to impart their fatal secrets to others.
 l tako 10 myself some credit that I | revrr GropYt ] a hint for days and weeks about Naua Sahib'S ruby 10 any living person, except Godfrey Sandhusen, who aIr, ldv knew as much aS I did. was 1 ou IL, Toint several times of telling my wifr ur Bur!ing. and I fear that some f ! but for the safety escape in the form of lnv friend at tho Windsor. We fre- | quvmt!y dine! together, oven after he | w,Ht back tn his home on the return of | his family from abroad. When We wCro | alone, there w..s only one theme of con- vry>atilu. @nl We remained in the dark | IS InUCI us t1rr.
 IL WAS vAsv n learn from inquiry at 1 tine Windsor that Mrs. Howard had left. l but If any clio knew whither she had .0.r surA LMuwlCdSo was net imparted to u>. When IpreScntcd my card in the 1 u:,;'s fl l1r A<tur House, with q re- l quest that Y ut sent to the room of AIr, Howard Il could easily make a pretext for calling ou himl, l was told that he hal b>rM gone several days. fell tC lupkin. for him on the street, but was nut fortunate enough to see him.
 When two weeks had passed without tho slightest word from Carl Wittner, 3 new cause of anxiety arose. Inquiries | sent tO his house were answered that il was not known when he would return. Nothing had been heard from him for { week. Ordinarily this would have beer cause for alarm. but WittDer had taught his wiio never 10 feel misgiving, ever if she failed to get word from him for ; much longer period His situation Wal often such that l: was indiscreet fo, him to send anything through the mails
 ''Sho may not Do alarmed for he husband. remarked Sandhusen, ''bu l am.
 "Why:"
 Those East Indians arc as treacher ous as the cobras of their own country and there is none subtler and more dan Gcrous than this Howard. "
 But if any ill has befallen Witt ner. " said I, moro disturbed than I wa ; willing 10 admit. something woul' have been known of 1t by this time " ; "O5dinarily you would be right, bu recall how many crimes of that kin have been committed which did nc come 10 light for years. Wittner ba probably used some sort of disguise which. if harm has come to him. ha prevented his identification. It may b that his fate will never ba known. Il am not prepared to give up hope.
 Nor am I, but cannot conceive tha <. be should remain all this time as utter
 ly lost to the world. or at least to us, q
 If he had never existed. ; Greatly depressed. left the homo ( my friend and went 10 my own. I mar p aged to conceal from my family tho tror
 blc that was with EIe in my dreams ( we'll IS waking hours Somehow or ott 1T 1 could not rid myself of a certai
 feeling that was responsible to a pal ' tlal extent for the misfortune.
 T ought to have known that thi
 man was a miscreant when he o1ere
 ne a priceless ruby for nominal sun ,; l sLould rot have dallied. but refused
 have anything to do with him when l. knew something was wrong. F. If it be really the matohless StcI .; which Mana Sahib carried with hil . into the junSles of the HimalayAA, to has well preserved its character. It VI
 associated with one of the ErOate .: crimes of history and now has bean tl o means of bringing about the death 0 another innocent person, When will
 career of evil end!"
 Every time I entered my store 1
 Quircd whether Wittner had been seq n and the answer was always Q nsSativ Il. l glanced over each envelope that "
 received, hoping to recognize hiS han