The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-09-29


bureau. and at length Nell touched the
spring which opened the secret drawer.
I drew in my breath sharply for the
light of the candle which | held struck
ont a CLEAN from n pile of eXqusitely
made false stones, which lay in par
tition on the left hand, while on the
right was the Lanbton diamond.
lnvoluntarilN betrayed the dreadful
nature of the discovery by an eXclama-
ton. for, left to herself, Nell would nor
| have understood. But she was quick
to comprehend, and realizing the worst
she swayed. staPge ring backward.
My poor father she moaned as I
held her "He is ruined forever--and
| |, too. The daughter of a convicted
thief is no fit wife for an honest man"
MY darling, you are a wife for a
king, and as for your father, ] swear
| to you that | will save him yet"
'You-You cannot"
II tell you that can and will" For
even as l spoke an idea flashed into
my head which startled me by its au-
dacity In a moment | had thought
out every detail.
| made up the stones, Lambton dia-
mond and all, into a packet, carefully
closing the secret drawer, and con-
triving to get away without being seen.
! and went straight to my brothers
| house in Kent. managing to avoid the
| service of a subpoena. Thus l was not
present at the police proceedings. which
would have meant ruin for my plan.
| Mr.. Nugent was committed for trial,
| and meanwhile | stayed in the coun-
| tryj working each night in locked
| room. with the tools | had brought
with me, until the gray dawn filtered
| under my closed shutters.
| When / saw my old employer in the
| dock at the trial | was shocked at the
CHASTITY change which had come over
| him.
| The evidence ut first went steadily
| against him. Lord LambtOn sworc
| that the stone in the ring was not his
| diamond. One expert testified that not
only was the stone he now saw not
the Lamberton diamond, but was not a
! genuine jewel at all, but Il marvellous
| imitation. Another was not SO posi-
| tive, He looked at the gem through
his glass, turning it this way and that
declaring that in all his eXerience he
had never seen a false stone so clever
| ly executed as this. Indeed. he was
not prepared to swear that il was
false.
This was the first ray of doubt which
| had been thrown by the evidence upon
Mr.. Nugents guilt; and then I went
| into the box. ! was very cool now, for
| the game I had determined on had
| cost me many a qualm of conscience.
| But | had no intention of cheating
Lord Lambton swearing falsely, or
furnishing my personal honor.
| The preliminary question of the pros
| ecuting counsel brought out the fact
that | had designed the rings set
ting, and done all the work upon it.
What sort Of stone was it your en-
ployer gave you to set?" was the next
question.
'An extremely valuable white dia-
mond," | replied.
DO you swear that you set the gem
uine stone, and delivered the ring when
finished to the prisoner"
81 do"
DO you consider ii possible that
stone might have been taken out and
an imitation one substituted?"
Certainly. But | could tell whether
the ring had been tampered with since
it left my hands"
Take this, then, examine il, and in
form the court if that is the stone You
set"
The ring was handed to me, and a
hush fell upon the court. The kind of
lull which denotes that a vita! point
| in case has been reached
l put my hand in my waistcOat pock-
ct FOR my jewelers. glass, and the
sharpest eye could not have seen that
] also drew forth new ring, made in
the secret hours of the night--an exact
counterpart of the other. save that il
contained the real Lambton diamond.
| pretended to examine the imitation
| with great care while all eyes We're
fiNd upon me, At length | returned the
glass to my pocket, and with it the
ring with the false stone. / could hear
my own heart beating. but, handing
the court usher the new ring, | said
firmly i'm reply to the snappish well ?"
of the prosecuting counsel:
Il swear unhesitatingly that the set
ting of this ring has not been tanner
ed with. and that this is the genuine
diamond which was given to me to set. -
a rustic went round the court: the
doubling expert pricked up his ears
the prosecuting counsel. with Lord
Lambtor and the treasury solicitor
were whispering over the ring.
"M'lud," said the counsel. II ask
permission to recall the expert"
] stepped out of the box and the ex-
pert stepped in. The new ring was put
into his hand, a friendly ray of sun
shine lighting up the jewel.
This is very remarkable" he said at
last. ITS the first time l have ever
made a mistake. This stone is gen.
uine. | cannot doubt it,"
And so the prisoner was free: but
when the verdict of Not guilty" was
pronounced faint groan echoed ii, and
dead man was taken from the dock
A spasm of the heart had proved fatal.
Six months later Nell and | were
married. On our honeymoon we were
walking in a lane near Ilfracombe
when We came face to face with Lord
I4ambton, who was stopping with his
bride in neighboring country house.
"Ah, Mr. Wade!" he exclaimed, "a
haven't seen you since the very mys-
terious case of mine Do you know ]
have always since thought of you
asa yery-clever man?"
THANK you" l said quietly. "Wn
you allow me, my lord, to present you
To my wife-the only daughter Of the
late Mr.. Nugent."
Lord Lambton raised his hat, looked
keenly at pretty Nell, shook hands with
us both, and murmurcd:
"Ah, | understand"