The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-11
JENNIE BAXTER: JOURNALIST
1.-THE Diamonds of the Princess.
Copyright. 1899. by the AuthOr.l

49, nluuel DN III GlIdIh Ol ne GQllOT-
THAT is rather a long story replied Mr..
u,rswick. land before I begin 1t would
IKE to ask you one or two questions Can
xou manipulate a typewriter"
That depends on what make 1t is. The
ocdlrary typewriter understand very
thoroughly
GOOD. Have you any knowledge of short
hand?"
-. workable knowledge. I can write
shout one hundred words a minute"
admirable. admirable. Your coming to
,nis office was an inspiration. You are just
che person l have been looking for"
you didn't seem 10 think so yesterday.
Ar Hardwick." said the girl, with a sly
glance at him
well. many things have happened since
yesterday. We are now dealing with to-
Sav and with Princess Won Steinheimer."
She is a German princess. of course?"
- German princess, but IN American
uoman. she was a MISS Briggs, of Chi
caeo. a daughter OF Briggs, the railway
millionaire. worth somewhere between
+vsntv and twenty-five ~milIions-dollars. of
course. A year or two ago she married
prince Konrad Won Steinheimer. You may
remember having read about it In the pa
peIs2"
flln. YES, Z cAd AAAISA ~ A-0N~A
,be girl after the title, he after the money"
~I suppose so; but, be that as 1T may.
.ba was the only daughter Of old Briggs
end had spent a good deal of her time in
europe. and during her stay in Europe she
nd accumulated a vast stock of diamonds,
some Of them very notable stones. 1 don't
know what the whole collection is worth;
.ome say 100000, while others say double
nat amount. However that may be, Miss
briggs became the Princess Won Steinheim-
sr and brought 10 Austria with her $780,
ea in gold and diamonds, which her father
gave her as her dowry. but. of course. be-
,rg an only child. she will come in for the
rest Of the money when the old man dies"
is he likely to die soon? I don't suppose
the prince gave himself away for a mere
nillion?'
ooh. YOU forget the diamonds! AS to the
likelihood Of old Briggs's death. it didn't
strike me as imminent when 1 had a con-
y~ersation with him yesterday"
Yesterday? Is he here in London. them"
Yes: he has come over to disentangle
the mystery about the diamonds"
And what is the mystery? You take a
dreadful long time to tell a story. Mr.. Hard
wick"
The story is important, and IT must be
4 fO0 IN UEldl1 OlAlC y yO0 AAo 81 OA q
long Journey for nothing. Are you taking
down what 1 say in shorthand? That is
right. and if you are wise you will not
transcribe your notes so that any one could
read them; they are safer in that form. The
Won Steinheimer family have two resi-
dences. a house in Vienna and an ancient
castle in the Tyrol, situated on the heights
above Meran, a most picturesque place, /
understand. but very shortly you will know
more about it than I do. because The Bugle
expects you to go there as its special cor
respondent. Here the diamond robbery took
place something like two months ago, and
the affair is still as great a mystery as ever.
The princess was to open the season at
Meran, which is a fashionable resort. by
giving a fancy dress ball in SchIoss Stein
heimer. TO which all the Austrian and Cor
eign notables were invited.
TT was Just before the ball commenced
that the diamonds were first missed. In
fact, the princess was about to put them on
she represented some gorgeously dec
Grated character from the Arabian Nights
when the discovery was made that the
diamonds were gone. She was naturally
very much upset over her loss and sent at
once for the prince. her husband. insisting
that the police should be notified immediate
ly and detectives called in. as was perfectly
natural. Now. here comes a strange feature
Of the affair. and this is that the prince
positively forbade any publicity and refused
his sanction when she demanded that the
police should be informed, and yet the
prince knew as well as anybody the very
considerable value of the stones"
What reason did he give for his re-
fusal?' asked Miss Baxter, looking UP
from her notes.
Il am not quite certain about that. but
] think he said it was mira dig. for the
Steinheimers TO call in the police. Anyhow.
It was an excuse which did not satisfy the
princess. but as guests were arriving and
1t was desirable there should be no commo-
ton TO mar the occasion the princess tenn
porarily yielded to the wish OF her husband,
and nothing was said about the robbery.
The great ball was the talk of Meran for
several days. and no one suspected the pri-
vate trouble that was going on underneath
the public event. During these several days
the princess insisted that the aid of the
police should be invoked, and the prince
was equally strenuous that nothing should
be said about the matter. Then. quite I'M
expectedly. the prince veered completely
round and said he would engage the best
detectives in Europe. Strange to say. when
he announced this decision to his wife she
had veered round also and opposed the call
Ing In OF the detectives as strenuously as
he had lone heretofore"
What reason did she give for her change
OF front?" asked Miss Jennie.
She said, I believe. that IL was now too
late; that the thieves, whoever they were,
had had time to make away with their
piunder, and there would merely be a fuss
and worry for nothing"
DO you know, I am inclined to agree
with her." said the girl.
Are you? Then tell me what you think
OF the case as far as you ave got"
What do you think?'
/ snant tell you at this stage, because
i know OF further particulars which / will
give you later on. 1 merely want your opin-
Ion now, so that / may see whether what
1 have to tell you afterward modifes it in
any way"
Well, TO me. the case looks decidedly
Dark against the prince"
That is what Mr.. Briggs thinks. He
inagines his highness has the Jewels"
Where did you get all these particu-
lars?'