Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-03-12


10 slay the larger bird with his arrow.
This the man attempted, but struck the
pigeon, which fell, bleeding and dead,
at the queens feet. She at.once remov-
cd the gem, which was ctvered with
blood and dyed with it a rieh red >
"But, Mr.. Mitchell" said Mr.. Than
ret, surely ruby could not absorb
blood!"
''It is the history Of the GEM" Mr..
Mitchell spoke in so odd tone that one
almost thought that, carried away by
his love of precious stones. he had i'm
bibed some of the superstition connected
with them. He spoke as though he be-
lieved the tale. Mr. Barnes began TO
understand what Mr. Randolph had
meant when he said that perhaps the
desire to possess rare stone might
tempt this gentleman to commit crime
Mr.. Mitchell continued:
81 need not follow the story of Cleo
patra. 1t is too well known. But there
is an incident that has not been written
in the general history of her career
There was AN Egyptian priest who was
madly in love with her, and in mo-
ment of impulse he dared to tell her of
his attachment one day when alone with
her. She seemed slightly amused at his
ardor, and asked what he, a poor priest,
could offer her, who had rich rulers at
her feet. In desperation he answered
that he could give his life. The queen
laughed and said: That is mine already.
But yod priests claim to be all wise.
Find me the mate to my great ruby and
perhaps will listen to your love plead
ings To her intense surprise the man
replied: That / could do if / dared
The gem which You have has but return
ed to its proper place. 1t was once Pha-
raoh's He also had the mate TO it,
which from him descended through
kings to Rameses the Great. 1t is buried
in his coffin. Get it for me, was the
terse reply of Cleopatra, given now as
command rather than request.
'In fear the priest went into the pyr-
amid and stole the jewel. When he
presented it to Cleopatra, she cried out
at him: What FOOLS trick is this? Do
mine? The priest explained that hers
had been dyed red in the blood of the
pigeon. 'Ah, SOL she replied. Then
this one shall be also richer red. You
promised me your life once. claim it,
and in your blood this stone shall be
stepped till it matches the other in col
or She carried out her threat, and the
two stones were once more mates.
"What an absurdity - exclaimed Mr..
Randolph.
"Do not say so, !" said Mr. Thauret.
"We cannot tell what may happen in
this world.
1.-The next change of owners was
when Cleopatra killed herself One of
her handmaidens stole the two rubies,
but she herself was taken, slave, to
Rome and sold. Her purchaser discov-
cred the rubies, took them from her,
and then secretly murdered her, lest she
might tell that he had them. From this
time on they have gone by the name Of
the Egyptian gems. need not give
you the whole list of robberies and MUIR
ders that have been connected with the
two stones, though have the written
record complete, with names Of all the
victims Suffice it to say that for years
no one was the gamer by getting pos
session of them. They have always been
impossible to sell until 1 bought this
one, which is the first time either ever
was offered honestly in the market. Be
fore this each new owner had obtained
the jewels either by the or murder and
dared not admit that he had them. An
other curious thing is that no one has
ever succeeded in hiding the jewels so
that they could not be found. They
have been seereted between the stones
~ hda - and dRef69d 69GddSeeYY dSeYeA m qAaeeE qBeE
equally obscure places, yet always the
next thief has found and taken them. "
"Ah, that is interestingg" said Mr..
Thauret "But tell us frankly, since
we are pledged not to repeat what we
hear, do you suppose there is any power
inherent in the stone which attracts
persons to their discovery"
81 cannot say, but that is one Of the
claims. This seems to be susbtantiated
by recent events too"
"How so?'
"Well, my usual interest in large
gems led me to police headquarters
when that woman Rose Mitchell was
killed, after having been gobbed. The
jewels, you remember, had been quickly
recovered and are still in the hands OF
the police. | was allowed to see them,
and the ruby in that lot is undoubtedly
the mate to mine -
"You think that it was the presence
of that stone which led 90 the discovery
by the police Of the satchel containing
the jewels?'
Mr.. Thauret seemed much interested,
but Mr.. Mitchell merely shrugged his
shoulders for answer, though it seemed
plain that he did hold that opinion. MIR.
Barnes wondered whether Mr.. Thauret's
interest was due to the fact that, having
stolen tho jewels. he was astonished to
hear Of so strange an explanation OF
their recovery from the hotel where he
had hidden them. Yet tho mans next
words seemed to dispel such an idea. He
said:
"You may believe in that sort OF
thing, Mr.. Mitchell, but /, who have
only modern ideas, cannot accept any
such theory The fact that the stones
have always been discovered when hid
den has led those who know the history
to mistake "a chain Of condolences for
evidence Of supernatural power within
the stones themselves. / think / can
readily account for the series of hidings
and findings"
81 should be pleased 90 have you do
so, said Mr.. Mitchell
"Have you never read Edgar Poe's
tale, tho one where letter is stolen and
hidden? The detectives failed to find it,
though it was in plain sight all tho
time, but another man did find it. He
went spon tho correct theory that the
thief, knowing that a search would be
made, and guessing that all obscure
places would be explored first, would
hide it in some commonplace manner,
lie visited the apartments, and found
the letter in the letter rack. Now this
il ingenious, but Mr.. Poe here gives us
bit Of special pleading and curious
anomaly Mt tho same time. He wished
to show that an obscure corner would be
bad hiding place, and SO worked out
his result At the same time he draws
skillful thief who bafiled expert police.
and yet who hid his letter where the
first man with brains easily found it
This is the anomaly. Where the article
is small, as is the case with this lost
ruby, there is hut one safe place for tho
thief to hide his stolen property
"And that place is?" asked MIR. Mitch
el, himself betraying interest.