The St. Johns herald., 1900-06-02

knew we'll enough themselves that tnei
 tenements were no protection whateve
 against the midnight marauder; bu
 they felt they. could rely upon thei
 safes, of which each had al least on
 of the best. And their confidence wa
 justified. for although attempts at bur
 glary were, despite elaborate police pro
 lection, frequent, rarely were they sue
 cessful.
 So the plan of the syndicate" was t'
 export to Kimberley number of safei
 of approved pattern and with the GUS ! tomary kind of keys. Only of the lat
 ter the syndicate was to retain dupli
 eates. These safes were 10 be sold tt
 diamond dealers, if necessary. at { heavy discount. When these safes haC
 got into use and had got lodged in then
 a good stock of the glittering gems the offices were to be raided by two expert enced cracksmen sent out with the "ex petition" who. with the duplicate keys would easily make grand haul.
 John was not long in tumbling to the "plsnt." and he was just the man to go out as a salesman of the safes. The scheme was elaborately planned. and with six safes the expedition" of three persons was soon en voyage. There waa of course much delay in getting the heavy safes from Cape Town to Kimber- ley, distance of 600 miles, the greater part of which had then 10 be covered by the cumbersome ox-wagon.
 Once or the heids. nevertheless. John speedily es'ayed business. He an- nounced iu the Advertiser and Inde. pendent a consignment of safes for sale st a low price and personally called upon likely purchasers. At ihe outset it appeared that the affair was going to be frost, as nobody seemed to be in- clined 10 purchase on any terms. After a few weeks, however, one of them was sold to . firm of diamond merchants t<ading as Lipingki Brothers, and out wardiy in a large way of business.
 The other five could not be disposed o1 and remained stored. All the whlie the trio had kept studiously aIoof except ai stated appointments and maintaInec as respectable q deportmen, as WAS DOS. sibIe at the period. They now saw way to business, and prepared foE it It was absolutely necessary 10 get some confedera,es. and luckily one ot then was employed as sort of messenger and handy man by the Lipinski firm He was apparently confirmed ioper exhibiting an abiding thirst, but witt a remarkable amount of cunning apc craft.
 It was this man, Dennis by name, whc urged the sbsOlute necessity of "squar. ing" one of the detectives, and bringing in a fifth party to the exploit. This seemed to John good opportunity. and he advanced Dennis and Clifton, the "tec." $50 each with great cheerful ness.
 All was now ready for the grand coup. Dennis had informed them that there were 30,0o0 cara,s of diamonds. worth at that time about f 4o,O0O. in the safe awaiting transit by mail on the fol- lowing day.
 Never probably was burglary so easily effected. Between midnight and two o'clock the window of the once had been taken bodily out. the iron bars, which were merely mockery to an ex- pcrienced cracksman, wrenched from their sockets, and the safe opened and four precious parcels safely transferred to the lodgings of the adyenturers. Inc night was dark, and positively no sus- picionS whatever seemed to have been aroused.
 John and his two accomplices opened the parcels and gazed with giee and exulta,ion on the glittering. gtis;ening gems that were to make them all rich for life. They fully expected that next day there would be great commotion in the town, and that on the following day the newspapers would be full of ti,e sensational account of the robbery. But not word appeared in either of the sheets.
 The circumstance wes very plausib!y explained by Dennis and Clifton, who declared that the detective department had insisted upon silence on the part of Messrs. Lipinski as one of the very best means of getting clew.
 These two men had played their part we'll, John thought, and he willingly paid them of with e25o each.
 Good luck to you" mumbled Dennis, as he shuffIed away, while the "tec." simply put his fore6nger to his nasal organ and ejaculated mum" in mys- terious fashion and departed.
 And now the rest of the business was comparatively easy. Although the dia- rnond trade act permits an examination of every person leaving by steamer, only suspected persons are ever searched. The three men carried in their pockets each a portion of the 3o,- coo carats, and after three days jour ney to Port Elizabeth got safely on board the steamer for England without even 2 question or look from any ybody 1 to cause them any concern.
 Table bay left behind, they were in high spirits, and had very. very merry l voyage home. The remnant cf the Fi.- l 200 "eapitai" with which they had been | supplied by the syndicate enabled the trio 10 have what they considered high old time.
 Immediately on arrival at Southamp- ton John wired a message. ambiguous enough to those through whose hands 1t passed on the line, but most reassur- ing to the syndicate. All was proceeding serenely.
 Few men have ever been in such an exuitant mood as John Wild as he en- tered the place of meeting, house in York road, Lambeth. with the 50.0OO worth of diamonds in a valise, which he held with both hands. The repre- sentatives of the syndicate" - two hoary headed old rascals-were on the tiptoe of pleasurable expectation.
 Inhn undid the narceis and spread out