The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-02-28


fastest steamers between New York and
London or Havre-imagine, say. what
come down for me to be writing stories for
paltry few dollars apiece,
However, 1 started in to tell the story
of how I. clever SIS am, was once fooled
By hotel clerk Yes, and one of the yery
best men in my business was fooled rs
badly rs / was Ny pal in this job was
Russian Of good family, who made most
OF his money cut of young Englishmen on
1.-The continent, as they call the rest Of
Europe in England. Rsccarat was his
speciality. and he had been blacklisred at
every club in Paris and warned out OF ev-
cry casino il France from Boulcgne TO
Monaco. / selected him TO do the Job with
me because il was 10 be done in America.
and he had an accent that he couldn'. con-
troll himself. There was no danger that IL
he got drunk while playing the part OF a
foreigner who could scarcely speak the
language, he would give himself away by
falling into good English. I've known
more than one job spoiled that way
But l am getting ahead of my story
One summer 10 or - years ago happened
to be in one of our most fashionable wa
tering places. There is no necessity for
specifying ii. Tho day OF my arrival /
dropped into swell hotel, and there be
hind the desk was q clerk who wore the
most magnificent diamond l had ever seen.
And had seen the crown jewels Of every
monarchy in Europe, / gave one glance
at the jewel and went back to my own
hotel, got my luggage, started for New
York and took the next steamer for Havre,
cabling 70 Bilkski, which was my Rus
sian friends name, 70 meet me at the
landing stage.
We were back again inside Of three
weeks, two of the loudest, bowling swells
you ever saw. Bilkski was travelling as
Prince Skinoff Of Russia, and i was
swagger Englishman. I'd have put my
self down as lord if there had been fewer
copies of Burke and Debrett in America
Biikski was all right, because they don't
keep q Russian studbook that holds all the
princes. a Russian prince Goes not nee
essarily rank much higher socially in his
own country than policeman does in
New York anyway, but everybody doesn't
know that here. We had trunks enough
with us TO fit out q country clothing store
and hatboxes as big as beer kegs, all OF
them pasted over with foreign hotel and
steamship labels like dead wall with
circus posters.
We went directly TO the hotel where
had seen the diamond. To my great Joy
the clerk was still there, and he still wore
the beautiful jewel. When Bilkski laid
his eyes on il, he took me out on the We
randa and silently wrung my hand, great
tears standing in his eyes. His emotions
were so profound that he couid not speak.
Well, we played the heavy swells for two
weeks. We wore English clothes, with
plaids so big that you had TO SEQ two suits
TO find out what the pattern was. We
drank champagne all day, which has a
great effect on people who don't know
much of the world. We played billiards
for fabulous amounts end threw money
about-in the proper directiOns-as IL it
were dross. OF course, when it was learntd
in the place that Russian prince, with
an intimate English friend, was stopping
at the hotel there were a great many over
I lures made to form our acquaintance. We
took pains to insult men of the highest
standing publicly, which convinced every
+ body that we were what we pretended TO
+ be- At this time we were gradually play
I ing up To the clerk with the big diamond.
His name was BERTHE Lambkin.
We were barely civil To him at first,
/ then we became friendly and finally IA
miIiar We-Bilkski and treated him
as another literary man sayswe all do vice
first pitied, then endured and then en-
braced. We never mentioned his diamond,
, except that i remarked once that Ii was a
rather prett~stone, but you may believe
I that we looked at it some when he was
not aware OF il. AS for BERTHE, he was
positively sick with bliss ut the attention
/ we showed him. He became so arrogant
4 81. 81, r~F q haa
hotel would have discharged him, am
E.. sure, II he hadn't been afraid OF offending
+ his two aristocratic guests
/ Finally the night came for the grand
I COUP We left all our trunks at the hotel,
which we considered that we could well
/ afford to DO, as we estimated that the dia-
mond. even cut up, which was the only
way we could dispose of so large a gem,
would bring US ia small fortune and
made preparations to take only "a couple OF
( valises, containing enough clean linen to
last until we reached Liverpool The
scheme was that Biikski should sInUggle
the valiscs out of the hotel and wait for
me on the beach at IL O'Clock. i was TO
bring BERTHE out to meet him. Then we
were TO sarrots him, take the big diamond
and skip.
WOlhtQ Aikf ~ NlitIil AtltAA 10
came to taking off tho diamond. lt was
/ immovable in that unhOly little hotel
clerks shirt front While we were work
ing at IL we heard voices in the distance,
and there was Just time for Bilkski 20
empty his valise and put Bertio Lambkin,
diamond and all. in it, when some stroll
ers passed Us We caught the midnight
train 10 New York, however. and put up
at the AstCr house, and no sooner reached
the room assigned 10 us than we prepared
/ 0 Ia axe another attempt 70 dislodge the
precious jewel that had cost Us already 50
much effort. When we opened the valisc,
we discovered on Ber;ie's bosom only some
broken glass and fragments II carbon.
/ The diamond was an electric light. oper-
ated g. . small battery in that hotel clerk
/ ing inpOster's hip pocket.
We threw BERTHE LaInbkin's body down
the airshaft If the hotel, and BiIkssi and
have not spoken 70 each other sincs.-
Exchange
There isn't any one in the world who
can get a sore On his nose end hot LOOK
tough