The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-01-02

splendid collection Of gems represented,
not only so many pounds sterling IL
hard cash. when once successfully trans
lated from the Kimberly compound and
sorting houses to the outside world, but
also many moments of desperate We,
skiElfully hidden anxiety, during which
the tickle needle of fate had swayed to
and fro between two poles of fortune
and ruin.
Some men in Frank Ridley's position
and he was one of the most trusted
sorters in camp-would have taken the
stones out one by one, or employer
Kaffirs to take them from him after
they had been searched, and pass them
direct to one of the illicit dealers out
side, but that was not his way. He had
no other confdant then his own con-
science, not always an approving one,
but at any rate one that would not give
him away.
To have taken the stones out one by
one would only have multiplied the risk
of discovery and ruin by the number of
them, for the possession of a single
illicit diamond would have meant dis
grace and penal servitude just as GER
tainly as would the discovery on his
person OF the whole twenty or thirty
thousand pounds worth of gems-the
very pick of the Kimberley mine output
for nearly six months past
So one afternoon he made up his mind
that he had tempted the fates far
enough. and at 6 that evening he walked
off to his lodgings with his heart in his
mouth and fortune in the lining of his
somewhat shabby felt wideawake.
That night, albeit with some little
fear and trembling, he permitted him.
self the luxury Of a few minutes exam
ination of his plumber in bulk, and an
estimate of ifs value-not to him, but to
the more fortunate man who should
succeed in getting the parcel through
safely to London or Amsterdam. If he
could only do that himself he would
never need to do another days work in
the world-but he was an employe, a
sorter. and therefore a marked man,
and the secret reamifcations Of the won
derful system which Enclosed him and
all like him as in net were many and
wide.
No. that risk was too great consider
ing that he could now make $4,000 or Co.
600 in an hour or so, and at the same
time transfer all this risk and liability to
some one else, and go back to his work
with a light heart and, in a certain
sense a clear conscience.
Jet there was one magnificent rose
diamond, which must have weighed
somewhere between 40 and so carats,
which he would dearly have loved to see
nicely cut and polished and glittering on
the neck or in the hair of certain we'll
loved some one far away in old Carlisle;
but he knew well enough that there was
not another of its size and color in the
world. The nearest to it was in the De
Beers collection, and the mere possess
sion Of it by any one but monarch or
a millionaire would mean just what his
own possession of it meant, so there was
no use thinking about that.
With something very like a sigh for
the unattainable possibilities of his SO
far successful theft, he tied up the
gems in a bit Of dirty rag, and stuffed
this into the toe OF a rather dilapidated
Wellington boot. Then he had wash
and change, and went for walk down
town.
On his way along Stockdale street he
CHANGED to meet a well-dressed, dapper-
looking little man, who nodded to him
as one might do to casual acquaint
ance, and Said in a quick, chirpy sort of
tone:
How do, Ridley? going strong, eh?"
Pretty well, Mr.. Muratti," he replied,
with a quick look up and down the
street. Returns are looking up again.
We've had some very pretty finds the
last day or two"
o. glad to hear it, even from n man
who wastes his opportunities as idiotic-
ally as you do. Anything particularly
choice?"
'Well, yes. Are you doing anything
in second hand boots just now, Mr.. Muir
ATTIC
1t may here be conveniently explained
that the gentleman with whom young
Ridley had thus fallen into conYersa-
ton was, in those days, known i'll
camp as Mickey, luratti The wider
world knows him now as Michael AIu-
ratti, Esq, III. l.. A, and director OF many
important financial undertakings. But
III those days he was just an extremely
clever man, q. jew of reputed Eloren-
tine ancestry, but more recent and au-
thenbic East end extraction, who had
made his debut in Kimberley as dealer
in cheap Jewelry and sl0p-made outfits
after having wandered about picking up
a living by the display of his juggling
abilities-and who was now looked upon
as one of the smarteSt and most sue
cessful Operators on the diamond fields.
Inspector Lipinzki and some OF his
more trusted subordinates cherished
certain suspicious as to the scope OF
his operations, but so far his dealings
had been blameless, at least SO far as
tangible evidence was concerned, added
to which he had recently married very
pretty and exceedingly clever wife,
which meant much ON the fields in
those days.
MIR. Muratti did not seem in the least
a Dyed by the apparent reference to
his former comparatively humble means
Of livelihood. On the contrary, he looked
UP with a quick glance at Ridley, and
said with a smile of pleasant anticipa-
ton:
'.WelI, haven't done anything in the
old clio line for some time now, but you
know I'm always on a for a trade. What's
the fgure?"
TEN thousand"
en- see you'll mean I'd like to see the
goods first before L say anything to
that It's a big price for a pair OF Sec
ond-haud boots, you know, Mr.. Ridley.
Still, I'm glad to see that you're begin
ming to rise to a proper sense of your
opportunities. When can l see the
boots?
Il was thinking of taking them down
to Iooiey's tomorrow about this time to