The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-19

yent if somewhat mysterious reeo.ei'
Of the f15,OOO parcel from the ho'1ii n5
INIT now vanished Seth Salter that nav
~ Measure and / think l may lairts
.ad the privilege, of making Tie
ouaintance of Inspector Lip.nzki. :.
can saw without hesitation that II,
.bx, course of wanderings which nave ie'
~. over n considerable portion OF Tie
,onds and seas Of the world have never
moN !. more interesting man than ne
moe saw "was" poor fellow, Tor ne Is
now M longer an-thing but a memory
~ bitterness to the l. d. B.-but that
must he told in another place.
There is no need of further explana-
fiou of the all too brief intimacy "hien
followed our introduction imam uhe s'a'e
ment of the fact that the grea'es'
South African detective OF MS gay was
after all man, as well as oeteI'i'e J.
and hence not only justhaply prouu
+ho many brilliant achievements whlcn
illustrated his career. but also oy no
roeans 10th that some day the story OF
Ahem should. with all due and proper
nracautions. and reservations. be tod 10
q wider and possibly less preJudlced an
a;ence than the motley and migratory
nonulation of the camp as 1t was III h's
day. .,
had not been five minutes in the
COW. tastily furnished sanctum OF MS
low. broad-roofed bungalow In New lie
BEERS road before / saw it was mu-
aeum as well as study. Specimens OF
all sorts of queer apparatus empioyeu
nv the |. d BIS for smuggling diamonds
were scattered over the tables and man
telpiecc.
There were massive, handsomelycarved
briar and meerschaum pipes, winch
seemed to hold wonderfully little tobacco
for their size; rough sticks of flrewood
ingen:ously followed out. which must
have been worth a good round sum III
their time: hollow handles of travelling
trunks: ladies' boot heels of the fashion
affected on a memorable occasion by
Mrs. Michael Murratti: and novels, hymn
hooks. church services, and bibles. with
cavities cut out of the center of their
leaves which had once held thousands of
mounds worth of illicit stones on their IN
suspected passage through the BOOK
post.
But none Of these interested or, indeed.
puzzled me SO much as did couple OF
curiously assorted articles which lay IN
der little glass case on a corner bracket.
fase was an ordinary piece of heavy LEAD
tubing. about three inches long and an
inch in diameter, sealed by fusing at botn
ends and having little brass tap fuseo
into one end. The other was little rag
rod niece of dirty sheet India rupper.
yary thin-in fact almost Transparent
and roughly speaking, four or nve lhch-
es square.
was looking at these things, wonder
ing what on earth could be the connec-
tion between them, and what manner ol
strange story might be connected WIN
them, when the inspector came IN. ;,
aGood evening. Glad to see you" he
said. in his quiet and almost gentle
voice, and without a trace OF foreign ac-
cent. as we shook hands. wen, what
do Won think of my museum! l daresay
vou've guessed already that II some OF
+hese things could speak they could
keep your readers entertained for some
little time. chr
swell. there is no reason why their
owner shouldn't speak for Them, | said.
making the obvious reply, provided al
wavs of course, that it wouldn't De CIV
ing away too many secrets OF state.
aMv dear sir" he said, with a smile
which curled up the ends Of his little
black carefully trimmed mustache ever
40 slightly. 81 should not have mace
won the promise did at the club the
other night if / had not been prepared
to rely absolutely on your discretion
and INV own. Now, there's whisky-and
soda or brandy; which do you prefer!
You smoke, of course, ana thihk
you'll find these pretty good, ana that
chair ] can recommend. l have unra-
yeled many knotty problem Ill IL,
can tell you"
"And now" he went on when we were
at last comfortably settled, may ASK
which Of my relics has most aroused
your professional curiosity?
1t was already on the tip of my tongue
TO ask for the story of the gasplpe ana
piece of india rubber, but the inspector
forestalled me by saying:
"But perhaps that is hardly falr
question. as they will all probably seem
pretty strange to you. Now, for IN
stance, / saw you looking at two OF my
eurios when | came in. You would
hardly expect them to be associated, and
very intimately, too, with about the
most daring and skilfully planned dia-
mond robbery that ever took place on
the Fields, or off them, for the matter Of
that, would youT'
Hardly" l said. "And yet / think
have learned cn..gh Of the devious
ways fthe /. d. B. to be prepared for
a perfectly logical explanation OF the
Hact.''
"As logical as think I may fairly say
romantic" replied the inspector as he
set his glass down. "ln one sense 1t
was the most ticklish problem that I've
ever had to tackle. OF course you've
heard some version or other of the dis
appearance of the great De Beers dia
mondw
81 should rather think / had" said
with a decided thrill of pleasurable an
ticipation, for i felt srre that now, il
ever. / was going to get to the bottom
of the great mystery. Everybody il
camp seems to have different version