Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-01-18

light trousers, dark mustache astrakhan
oyercoat, soft felt hat, " he muttered, check
ing off the items with cablegram he held
in his hand. "And he speaks Dutch pref
ty well, but with a foreign accent. Yes,
my friend I'm afraid we shall have to
take charge of you for the present, in spite
of your clever little ruse Just put the
rest Of your things on, please and come
along quietly"
"But what's the meaning of all thisP" I
asked in bewilderment, as the handouts
were clicked on directly l had finished
dressing. "a man steals my clothes and
my money, and you lock me up for it and
allow him to escape. Is that the way
things are usually managed in HollandY'
you'll see how things are managed in
Holland where diamond thieves are con-
cerned quite soon enough SIR" said the
man CURLY, evidently annoyed at my tone
amy explanations or excuses you can give
later on; in the meantime perhaps you
will accompany us quietly"
Yes, and in the meantime this gentle
man is hurrying off as fast as trains can
carry him to some out Of the way corner
of Europe" / grumbled, but resistance
small crowd of stolid urchins, we made
our way along the tree lined Bompjes to
the police station.
Here short interview with fiery faced
and fierce mustached official told me the
nature of my supposed offense but did not
in any way improve my prospects Of re-
lease. The object of my cabin companion
was now quite clear to me, though all my
EXPLANATIONS with regard to the change of
clothes were smiled at by the officials, who
evidently thought them very clumsy OK
cuses. I was accused of being concerned
in a large diamond robbery and was sup
posed to have been travelling to Amster-
dam in order to make use of my knowl-
edge Of precious stones in disposing of the
spoil among the "fences" in the Jewish
quarter Of the town.
The actual thief was confidential clerk
to large firm of diamond merchants in
London. His escape with the booty had
been noticed few hours after his depar-
ture from town, and full particulars of his
clothing and general appearance had been
cabled to Rotterdam, with instructions to
detain him on the arrival Of the boat. But
my ''friend" had foreseen some difficulty
Of this kind and had laid his plans accord
ingly.
Selecting me as man of about his own
height and appearance, he had managed
easily enough to change the clothes In the
cabin, the drugged cigar aiding him In his
scheme. Clad in my brown ulster and
travelling cap, he had passed off the deck
with the other passengers without attract
ing any special attention and was probably
in the act of negotiating with Amsterdam
traders at the moment of my examination
by the official at the station.
The fact that had no diamonds in my
possession at the time Of my arrest meant
nothing They might have been concealed
anywhere in the vessel, or even have been
thrown overheard. The steward, to whom
l appealed in support of my story, could
only assert that he had found me asleep,
or feigning sleep, while the other passen-
gers were all preparing to land-and, Of
course, this told against me- There was
only one man in Holland who could help
me out Of my scrape, and at the name of
Van der DEM, diamond merchant, of
Amsterdam and Hatton Garden, the Off
Gals looked even more suspicious though
they promised that he should be commu-
nicated with Gin due course" was com.
PEELED to content myself with this and re-
signed myself to my fate.
suppose must hay, spent four or five
hours in confinement and was beginning
to wonder whether was fated to pass the
night in like fashion, when the key sud
denly turned in the lock, and warder en-
tered, closely followed by my friend Van
der DEM.
my dear fellow" said the old boy ef-
fusiyely, rushing toward me and gripping
mo by the hands, "what an adventure to
have had, to be sure! But all's well that
ends we'll, and when you have changed
your clothes we'll start for Amsterdam at
once. Chris is getting quite anxious about
you.
"Why, certainly. We've got the clothes
and the jewelry, and the diamonds, and
what's quite as important, the man him
self. It's the most curious thing ever
knew in my life. Christina and were ex-
pecting you hours back, and was going
to the station to see what had become of
you, when suddenly caught back view
of your very counterpart-tra cap
and that brown ulster Of yours, English
every inch Of it-why, should know it
mile off in Holland-hurrying across the
dam. caught up to him in a moment
and laid my hand heavily on his shoulder
and, instead of your face Holt g.
Marksons confidential clerk turned to
meet me, with terror in his eyes. had
the police up in half minute. The dia-
monds and your watch and chain were
discovered. He confessed the whole plot,
and beyond that there's nothing else to
tell, save that your things are waiting for
you to slip into them, as quickly as posi-
bic, down below"
l have little more to tell than Mynheer
Van der DEM had save that spent o
jolly winter holiday, not in the white
washed cell, that asked Christina to be
my wife and met with very little demur
from her or from her father, who seemed
to think that my adventure deserved some
and, finally, that the hand
some wedding present we received from
Holt & Markson, out Of gratitude for
the recovery of the diamonds, has made
me none the less cautious now of men sin
the other berth. London Tit Bits.
Old Music In the British Museum.
The accessions to the collection of music |
have been more than usually important. |