Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-18

face that you are already asking yourself
what that has got to do with spriting a
million or SOS worth of crystalliZed carbon
out of the safe at De Beers. Well, little
patience, and you shall see.
Early that same Sunday morning I was
walking down Stockdale street. in front of
the De Beers office, smoking Il cigar, and
OF course worrying my brains about the
diamond l took long draw at my weed,
and quite invoiuntarily put my head back
and blew it UP into the air-there, just like
that-and the cloud drifted dagonally
across the street, dead in the direction of
the hills on which Mr.. Philip Marsden
would just then be hunting buck. AT the
same instant the revelation which had
scattered my thoughts about the other lit
the case that l mentioned just now came
back to me, l saw, with my minds eye
OF course-well, now, what do you think
saw"
IF it wouldn't spoil an Incompatible Ge-
tectlve," l said. somewhat irreIevantly, II
should say that you would make an excel
lent story-teller. Never mind what l think
I'm in the plastic condition just now. 1 am
receiving Impressions. not making them.
Now, what did you see?''
Il saw the great De Beers diamond-say
from ten to fifteen hundred thousand
pounds worth of concentrated capital
floating from the upper story of the De
Beers consolidated mines, rising over the
houSetops, and drifting down the wind to
Mr.. Philip Marsden's hunting ground
To say that I stared in the silence of
blank amaZement at the inspector who
made this astounding assertion with dra-
matte gesture and infection which nat
urally cannot be reproduced in print. would
be to utter the merest commonplace. He
seemed 10 take my stare for one of incre-
dulity rather than wonder, for he said, al
mos . sharply:
IAN, / see you are beginning to think
that 1 am talking fiction now: but never
mind. we will see about that later on
You have followed me. have no doubt
closely enough to understand that, hav-
ing exhausted all the resources of my eX-
perience and such native wit as the fates
have given me. and having made the most
minute analysis of the circumstances of the
case, 1 had come to the fixed conclusion
that the great diamond had not been car
ried out af the room on the person of a
human being, nor had it been dropped or
thrown from the windows to the street
yet it was equally undeniable that it had
got out of the safe and out of the ROOM
And, therefore, it flew out, 1 suppose"
could not help il.terrupting. nor, L am
afraid, could 1 quite avoid a suggestion of
incredulity in my tone.
Yes. my dear SIR replied the inspector
with an emphasis which he increased by
slappirg the four fingers of his right hand
on the palm of his left. Yes, it flew out
1t flew some seventeen or eighteen miles
before it returned to the earth in which
it was born, if we may accept the theory
of the terrestrial origin of diamonds. So
far, as the event proved, l was absolutely
correct. wild and all as you may naturally
think my hypothesis to have been.
But" he continued, stopping in his walk
and making an eloquent gesture OF apollo
sy. being human, / almost instantly devil
ated from ruth inton error. In fact. ]
freely confess to you that there and then
| made what / consider to be the greatest
and most fatal mistake of my career.
Absolutely certain 7as / was that the
diamond had been conveyed through the
air to the Barlsly hills. and that MIR. Philip
Ting had ba.,
undertaken with the object of recovering
1t, | had all the approaches to the town
watched till he came back. He came in
by the old Transvaal road about an hour
after dark. l had him arrested took him
into the house of one of my men who hap
pened to live out that way. searched him,
as | might say, from the roots of his hair
to the scles of his feet, and found-nothing
of course he was indignant. and of
course l looked very considerable fool
In fact. nothing would pacify him but that
l should meet him the next morning in the
board room at De Beers, and, in the pres
ence of the secretary and at least three di-
rectors, apologize to him for my unfoun1e1
suspicious, and the outrage that they had
led me to make upon him. 1 was, of
course. as you might say, between the
devil and the deep sea. / had to do it,
and ! did it, but my convictions and my
suspicious remained exactly what they
were before.
Then there began very strange, and
although you may think the term curious,
very pathetic, waiting game between us.
He knew that in spite of his temporary vic
tory ! had really solved the mystery and
was on the right track. ] knew that the
great diamond was out yonder somewhere
among the hills or on the veldt, and knew
too, that he was only waiting for my vigil
ance to relax to go out and get it.
Day after day, week after week, and
month after month, the game went on in
silence. We met almost every day. His
credit had been completely restored at De
Beers. Tomas, his connection. and, as 1
firmly believed. his confederate, had been,
to England, and when he went 1 confess
that l thought the game was up-that
Marsden had somehow managed to recover
the diamond, and that Tomas had taken il
beyond our reach.
Still watched and waited. and as time
went on saw that my fears were ground
less and that the gem was still on the veldt
or in the hills. He kept up brayely for
weeks. but at last the strain began to tell
Upon him. Picture to yourself the pitiable
position of a man of good family in the
old country. of expensive tastes and very
considerable ambition. living here in KIM
berley on q salary of some f12 a week
worth about f5 in England. and knowing
that within few miles of him. in spot
that he alone knew of, there lay a concrete
fortune of, say. Il, 100000. which was his
| for the picking up IL he only dared to 60
and take it, and yet he dared not do so. ;.
Yes, 1t is pitiless trade, this of ours.
and professional thief catchers can't afford
to have much to do with mercy. and vet I
| tell you that as watched that man day
| after day, with the fever growing hotter in
his blood and the unbearable anxiety tear
ing eyer harder and harder at his nerves
that even found myself growing impa-
| tient for. the end to come. Fancy that q
detective. thief catcher, getting flnpa-
tient to see his victim out Of his misery!