Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-03-27

| De III the TlRnt.
Together we ransacked the old bu-
, reau, and at length Nell touched the
spring which opened the secret drawer.
The light Of the candle which l held
struck out a CLEAN from a pile OF ex-
quisitely made false stones, which lay
in partition on the left hand, while on
the right was the Lambton diamond.
my poor father" she moaned, as I
held her. He is ruined forever-and
! l. too. The daughter of a convicted
thief is no fit wife for an honest man."
4 my darling! You are a wife for a
! king, and as for your father, l swear
to you that | will save him yet"
Even as l spoke an idea had flashed
into my head which startled me by its
! audacity. In a moment l had thought
out every detail.
made Up the stones, Lambton dia-
mond and all, into a packet, carefully
closing the secret drawer, and contriv-
ing to get away without being seen,
and went straight to my brothers
house in Kent, managing to avoid the
! service of subpoena. Thus l was not
present at the police court proceed
ings.
Mr.. Nugent was committed for trial,
/ and meanwhile | stayed in the coun-
try, working each night in my locked
room, with the tools l had brought
with me, until the gray dawn filtered
under my closed shutters.
When l saw my old employer in the
dock at the trial l was shocked at the
CHASTITY change which had come over
him.
The evidence at first went steadily
against him. Lord Lambton swore
that the stone in the ring delivered to
him by Mr.. Nugent's own hand was not
his diamond. One expert testified that
not only was the stone he now saw
not the Lambton diamond. but not
genuine jewel at all, but marvellous
imitation. Another was not so posi-
tive. Indeed, he was not prepared to
swear that it was false.
Then went into the box l was very
cool now, for the game I had deter
mined on had cost me many a Qualm
of conscience. But l 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 l had designed the rings setting,
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" l replied.
DO you swear that you set the gen.
uine stone, and delivered the ring when
finished to the prisoner"
II do
do you consider it possible that 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 it, 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 vital point in
a case has been reached.
put my hand in my waistcoat pock-
ct for my jewelers. glass, and the
sharpest eye could not have seen that
also drew forth a new ring, made in
the secret hours of night-an exact
counterpart of the other, save that it
contained the real Lambton diamond.
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 to the court ush-
er the new ring, said firmly in reply
to the snappish "Well?" of the prose-
cutting counsel:
81 swear unhesitatingly that the set
ting OF this ring has not been tam
pered with, and that this is the genuine
diamond which was given me to SET"
The doubling expert pricked up his
ears, the prosecuting counsel, with
Lord Lambton and the treasury solic.
itor, were whispering over the ring.
"M'lud," said the counsel, Il ask per-
mission to recall the expert"
l stepped out of the box and the ex-
pert stepped in. The new ring was pue
into his hand, 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 mistake. This stone is genuine.
cannot doubt it."
And so the prisoner was free; but
when the verdict Of mot guilty" was
pronounced, faint groan echoed it,
and a dead man was taken from the
dock. A spasm of the heart had proved
fatal.
Six months later Nell and I were
married. On our honeymoon we were
walking in a lane near Ilfracombe
when we came face to face with Lord
Lambton, who was stopping with his
bride in neighboring country house.
"Ah, Mr.. Wade!" he exclaimed. Il
haven't seen you since that very mys-
terious case of mine. Do you know, I