The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1896-04-17
missed a good deal Of LIES pleasures

sell knew that lhfs defeat would
make him more peuinacious than ever
and so 1t vas Now ! had hougbt-o f q
kaitir some stones OF great value. and
how to get them out safely puzzled me-
not little. Some fellows under similar
circumstances had recently tried varI-
Gus lodges which had long been popu-
lar, false boot heels, hollow ridingwhips,
and SO on, and in each case the dia~
monds had been discovered with very
unpleasant consequences. For years of
compulsory working at the breal1water,
for instance, may be the result, and
yet ] was determined to chance it
rather than lose these stones, which 7
shall never forget for the trouble they
cost me.
"After perplexing myself day and
night-my enemy X always lowering
about near me-a sudden idea flashed
into my brain. I had particularly
ugly bulldog who was of surly DISPOSE
ton, and was much laughed at on ae-
count of my fondness for him. The dog
wore a thick collar which was q neces-
sity, and that collar gave me the ''tip.'
l removed it, cut slips in the inside and
put the diamonds in them. As I was
leaving the fields, X, of course, pounced
on me, and affected a certain amount
Of uneasiness, which produced on his
mind corresponding glee."
Here Downham paused and opened
his pocketbOok, and from 1t he took the
photo of about as ugly, ferocious and
disreputable bulldog as was ever asso-
ciated with heroes Of the Bill Sykes
class.
isn't he beauty?" he said, fondly,
as he handed me the photo. 4 shall al
ways love that poor dog; he died on the
voyage home from the absurd preiu-
dices Of some Of the passengers who
didn't appreciate his playful nature-as
I'm pretty sure-and pushed him over
board; atany rate he disappeared. Yes,
sir, that dog got my best haul through"
Didn't X search him?" I timidly
queried
Search him! Everybody gave him
as wide a berth as they could-they
were under decisions about him, pretty
creaturel No-poor Grip lay down,
while the clever X was fussing about
me, and growled at him. Send that in
fernal dog of yours Off he said, irri-
tabiy, and little did he think when I
ooediently did so that he was sending
off the biggest haul of 1, DIS he was
ever likely to find. Of course he found
nothing on me, and his rage was a eau
ton. However, he went off, and some
days later started hOmewards by Ieis-
urely stages.
Il felt pretty secure by this time,
and carried the diamonds in my pocket.
However, as the train left the station
for CapetOwn, CHANGED to see one of
the diamond fields detectives jump in
TO the guard van. That was sufficient
hint to me to make things snug, but
how to getrid of the diamonds this time
| could not see, as Grip wasn't accom-
panying me that journey. Looking
round the carriage, I saw a broken
black bottle under the seat. There was
my cache, as the Indians say"
"But surely the detective" I mildly
interposed, would have looked under
the seat?"
well, suppose he would" duly re-
marked DOwnham, unless he were as
big an idiot as-sOme people. Just wait,
my good friend, before you credit a man
with congenitaI idiOcy."
I shrank back silent. He looked
fierce and dagger-like, and on the whole
I began to wish I'd gone to Liverpool
street for some other train.
'What did, - he resumed, twas this:
I wrapped up all the stones in pieces Of
newspaper, and carefully put them into
the bottle, filling up the spaces by more
paper as tightly as possible. Then I
looked carelessly out Of the window,
smoking, but my eye always on the
guards van. When I saw nobody look
ing out-of course the chap thought
hadn't seen him, and was probably tell
ing the guard what a fine haul he was
going to malle-I quietly dropped the
broken bottle clear of the line. marking
the spot-one's eye gets well trained
out on the veldt, you know"
"At the next station up came the de-
tective. They have power to search sus-
poets, you know, and / was accordingly
Tummaged again. But this chap, 2,
let's say, was as unsuccessful and as
riled as X. Of course. I hadn't dia-
mond about me. And much Indignation
did display. Some days later went
back to the place where I dropped my
black bottle, found it and its contents
intact. After that 7 had no more adven-
lures with those stones, and they
partly-boughtmy place in the south of
France.
''Yes, they're very clever, those D. F.
D. s, and have many people in their pay,
both black and white, called traps
They don't usually make mistakes, but
they did in my case. What do you
thhk?" concluded Downham, empty
ing his glass.
What I thought I certainly was not
going to say, and. indeed. / hardly
knew where Twas. tt was an awful ex-
perience for a steady-gOing man Of
business whose career has been as IN
rufiied as duck pond. / parted from
him, however, with much outward