The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1898-04-14
Sheer Luck.

: Sheer Luck. !
eo>~~~~~~~~~~e
When the great pink diamond Of
Guznee reached Europe it created
widespread interest and took immedi-
ate rank with the historical stones Of
the world. It was compared with the
finest gems in the royal and imperial
regalia, sayants wrote learned dis
QUESTIONS upon its beauties, and the
magazines AID newspapers spoke Of
its value in a way that made ones
mouth water.
Among others whose envy was
aroused by the descriptions Of the
rtone was NJ. Lamorock, a gentle
aaan who had passed under many
.-liases in his career, and who had only
recently been released IRON Portland,
Ihere be had been sequestered for mis-
taking the proprietosship Of check.
As he read OF the great diamond his
ives sparkled at the thought of its
worth. There it was-s100, ,000-and
you could put it in your wa!stcoat
pocket.
Eut how to get it?
The ex-convict, as he pondered oyer
the SUI; ;ec:, knew the task was net an
easy one. The papers impaired the
confdeacs that it was in Messrs. Bons'
field Brothers safe at Bristol; but
burglary was not in his line. There
are grades of refinement in all profes-
sions, and he looked upoa burglary as
vulgar, besides which night warchmen,
strong rooms, and electric alarms
made such work hazardous and only
:Gt:for people better supplied with
physical strength than brains.
The first step was to obtain the con-
fdence Of the Bonsfelds. To get this?
-an introduction. How?-to forge
siit!!s 49,
Without more ado he wrote short
5noteto Gongleton & Co., the celebrated
4e-e1ts...s, SoI GARDEN,
!. zasssng them iftbE would care to buy
.1.s'sosnsS eefam5Ty jewels, and received
areplS expressing their willingness to
inspect them. After studiously ex-
anining the ealigraphy of their letter
with q magnifying lens he set himself
to practising a number Of curves and
hourishes on sheet of paper. An
hours work seemed to satisfy him,
and ne then indited the following
epistle:
Citation Garden, Jan 4, 1895.
Messrs. Bonsfeld Brothers: Dear Sirs
AS client of ours desires to inspect
your pink diamond known as The
Light Of Guznee, with view to pur-
chase, we should feel obliged if you
would send it to US. Our Mr.. Lamo-
rock will call upon you a few hours
after you receive this letter and will
bear note vouching for his identity.
We shall be happy to undertake all
risk and responsibility for the stone
from the time it is intrusted to the
custody of our representative, and we
beg to remain yours faithfully.
"CoSe1EroN & Co."
When this production of his pen
and brain had been carefully scrutin-
lied, our caiigraphist composed
another short letter, which stated that
the bearer was Mr. La norock, the rep
resentati7e of Congleton & Co. H.
went out and bought half do en-
Havana cigars, four Of which he
steamed open and unrolled. Smearing
the interior portion over vi b dark,
treacly liquid, he rolled them up again
with expert fingers and pat them into
his case.
The first letter he had written he
sent by registered post, going down to
Bristol by the same train that took the
mail. But on his arrival there he
waited for three hours so as to allow
of it being delivered before calling.
He then went to their Office and pre-
sented his credentials, the genuineness
OF which were not for moment sus-
pected.
The Bristol firm, who acted with
great caution in all their business
Transactions, thought it safer
that the stone should be under
the custody of their own rep
reseatative, and determined that one
of their partners, Harry Bons6eld,
nhonld accompany Lamorock up to
London, taking itwith him. This,
however, was a contingency provided
for both by Lamorock's cigars and by
a neat little revolver that nestled in
the pocket Of his great coat.
It was bitterly cold day, and bit.
ing east wind made them |shiver in
spite of their coats and wraps; so
much so that they mutually regretted
thai the operation of securing a
reserved carriage left them no time to
pay visit TO the refreshment room.
They had just seated themselves
comfortably and the train was already
in motion, when an elderly gentleman
with jovial red face'and black bushy
whiske-s opened the door and bundled =,
himself in,
Bonsfeld was annoyed and Lamo-
rock disgusted; but as the intruder
was profuse in his apologies, and it
was too late to mend matters, they
had to accept the situation with the