The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1898-12-02

that he was only waiting for my vigi-
lance to relax to go out and get it.
'.Day after day, week after week and
month after month the game went Oh
i'll silence. We met almost every day.
His credit had been completely restored
at De Beers. Tomas, his connection,
and, as firmly believed, his confeler-
ate, had been, through his influence,
sent OH mission to England, and when
he went confess that thought the
game was up; that Marsden had some
how managed to recover the diamond,
and that Tomas had taken it beyond our
reach.
"Still watched and waited, and as
time went on saw that my fears were
groundless and that the gem was still
on the veldt or in the hills. He kept up
bravely.for weeks, but at last the strain
began to tell upon him. Picture to your
self the pitiable position of man of
good family in the old country. of ex-
pensive tastes and very considerable
ambition, living here in Kimberley OH
salary Of some e12 a week, worth
about So in England, and knowing that
within few miles of him, in a spot
that he alone knew of, there lay a con-
crete fortune of, say, 81. 500, 900, which
was his for the picking up if he oily
dared to go and take it, and yet he
dared not do so.
eyes. it is a pitiless trade, this of
ours, and professional thief catchers
can't afford to have much to do with
mercy, and yet l tell you that as /
watched that man day after day with
the fever growing hotter i'll his blood
and the unbearable anxiety tearing ever
harder and harder at his nerves /
pitied him-yes, l pitied him so much
that even found myself growing inn
patient for the end to come. Fancy
that, detective, thief catcher, get
ting impatient to see his victim out Of
his misery!
"Well, l had to wait six months
that is to say, had to wait until
O'clock this morning-for the end. Soon
after one of my nen came and knock
ed me up. He brought note into my
bedroom ard read it in bed. 1t was
from Philip Marsden, asking me to go
and see him at once and alone. 1 went,
as you may be sure, with as little delay
as possible. found him in his sitting
room. The lights We're burning. He
was fully dressed and had evidently
been up all night.
Gwen l, who had seen the despair
that comes of crime in most of its worst
forms, was shocked at the look of him.
Still he greeted me politely and with
perfect composure. He affected not to
see the hand that [ held out to him, but
asked me quite kindly to sit down and
have a chat with him. sat down, and
when l looked up saw him standing
in front of me- covering me with a
brace of revolvers. My life, of course,
was absolutely at his mercy, and, what
ever might have thought of myself or
the situation, there was obviously moth.
ing to do but to sit still and wait for
developments
He began very quietly to tell me
why he had sent for me. He said: L
wanted to see you, Mr.. Lipinzki, to
clear up this matter about the big dia-
mond. I have seen for q long time-in
fact, from that Sunday night-that you
had worked out a pretty correct notion
as to the way that diamond vanished.
You are quite right. 1t did fly across
the veldt to the Barkly hills lam bit
of chemist, you know, and when /
had once made up my mind to steal it
for there is no use in mincing words
now-I saw that it would be perfectly
absurd to attempt to smuggle such a
stone out by any of the ordinary meth
DDS.
Il dare say you wonder what these
revolvers are fer. They are to keep you
there in that chair till I've done, for
one thing. If you attempt to get out of
it or utter sound, I shall shoot you.
II you hear me out, you will not be in
jured, SO you may as we'll sit still and
keep your ears open.
To have any chance Of success /
must have had confederate, and 1
made young llomas one. If you look on
that little table beside your chair, you
will see bit of closed lead piping with
a tap in it and piece of thin sheet in
dia rubber. That is the remains of the
apparatus that used. l make them q
present to you. You may like to add
them to your collection.
Lomas, when he went ON duty that
Saturday night, took the bit of tube
charged with compressed hydrogen and
an empty child's toy balloon with him.
You will remember that that night was
very dark and that the wind had been
blowing very steadily all day toward
the Barkly hills. Well. when every
thing was quiet he filled the balloon
with gas, tied the diamond
But how did he get tire diamond
out of the safe? The secretary saw it
locked up that eyening!' exclaimed,
my curiosity getting the better of my
prudence.
(" 1t was not locked up in the safe
at all that night, he answered, smiling
with sort of CHASTITY satisfaction.
'Lomas and /, as you know, took the
tray of diamonds to the safe, and, as
far as the secretary could see, put them