The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-21
IN S0L0MoN'S TANK.
We nderfui Exploit In Capturing a
String of Stolen Diamonds.

String of stolen Diamonds.
By w. Murray Graydon.
One morning in a quiet corner of the
Alden Club. Vane Chalmers affirmed that
on the previous day. while hunting ba-
boons in the hills he had suddenly come
upon a lion. His rife was empty. and an
unprecedented tumble down a precipice.
where the animal did not see fit to fol-
| low, was all that saved him.
His looks were certainly corroborative.
for purple patch was visible on his fore
head.
Where did you say you put him up?"
asked young subaltern.
This side of the far tank, among the
| Blue Rocks was the reply. You fellows
| are welcome to stalk the brute. II you
like. Thank goodness, I'm off for Eng
+ land next week, on a six months leave"
/ Just then Col. Holford, the Political
Resident, strolled into the room.
| You are too venturesome. Chalmers"
! he said to his secretary. LAS for the
| presence of a lion in the vicinity, 1 think
that can be explained. One recently es-
capped from a village seventy miles to
| the north, where it was brought by n@-
tives from the Khali Desert. 1t could cas-
| lily have made its way down here"
There you are!' exclaimed Chalmers,
| triumphantly.
Matthew Quin had been listening atten-
| toveluy from a secluded corner.
| Il should like to take the animal alive"
he said. ARABIAN lions command a stiff
price at present"
| The Resident having disappeared,
chance word brought up the mysterious
theft of Mrs. Holfords diamond neck
lace, three months previously. 1t had
been stolen from her dressing-room one
evening, and the guilty party had never
been discovered though the town was
! ransacked from end to end.
i've always suspected that Portuguese
attache," said Chalmers, as he picked UP
an illustrated paper.
Later in the day, in the Hotel de rUni-
| verse, Quin received a visit from Vane
| Chalmers. The latter was a handsome,
polished young gentleman of thirty. who
| had come out from England with a record
for dissipation and extravaganza.
About that lion, Mr.. Quin," he began;
'it's a straight enough story. of course.
| But l knew the thing was right in your
| line, so / kept those other chaps in the
! dark, so far as the spot was concerned.
stumbled on the brute at the upper end
| of Solomon's Tank-the far one, you
know"
|
! Quin, when he had put few questions TO
! his visitor. LAS you suggest, it's in my
| line
"rhen you'll have try for the lion?"
| Chalmers asked, with covert eagerness.
Eyes; think I'll look him up to-mor-
row. I can spare day or two"
Good! You'll have to shoot the brute
It's out of the question to take him
| alive. I'll see you on your return"
Early the next morning, before the flush
of dawn, Quin with his Somall guide soon
reached the great granite-boun tanks
| for catching the rainfall, constructed at
enormous labor by King Solomon and his
| Jinns, it is said-sometime prior to the
| year B. G. 1900
But where was the lion? 1t was no
where in the valley. for such cover as
there was-clumps of dried yellow grass
| at the foot of the hills-could not have
hidden calf.
THE beast must come down to drink
| there is no other water" said Quin. "Ah,
that looks like"
He did mot finish the sentence, but
started abruptly off by the side of the
tank, his rife in both hands, the Somali
at his heels. At the farther end of the
| reservoir, few yards up a stony incline
cliff rose almost sheer to hight of
seventy eighty feet. AT the base of
this was the black hole that had attracted
GUMS attention. He climbed to 1t eau
! tiously. then STOPPING beneath the over
! hanging rock, he fearleesly slipped with
IN and stood erect. A few yellowisn hairs
were sticking to the roughened wall, and
Quin knew how they came there. He
| called the Somal to him.
1--WE are going up he said. ''It will not
be very difficult. Keep close behind me,
and do Just as do. You won't fall
Jubar disliked the project, but he dared
not disobey. Master and man mounted
steadily. AT one risky point. where he had
to use both his hands, Quin lost hold of
his rifle, which slipped by his companion
and went Gathering to the bottom.
1--WE go back for it?" asked the Somali
mo; we are almost to the top now"
Quin replied.
Another ten feet or so. and they emery
ed on the summit of the cliff Before
them stretched a wide, level plateau
thickly strewn with loose powders, large
and small. They advanced warily, Quin
shifting the air at every few steps Jubar
hung back little. and there was pallor
on his dusky face.
At the same instant, from half a dozen
yards in front of them, leapt up the lion,
true Arabian, whose lair they had in
vaded. He yawned prodigiously. showing
his cavernous red mouth. and then hun
CRY wrath blazed from his eyes.
THE rifle, quick? demanded Quin.
He was answered by yell of dasmay
and pater of feet The cowardly Jubar
had fed in panic, taking the weapon with
him. Quin, unarned and deserted, realized
his peril. But he did not lose his nerve.
Fixing his eyes on his savage foe, he
moved slowly backward, step by step.
The lion followed, somewhat surprised by
these tactics. 1t uttered terrific roar
that echoed far among the hills. Quin
stopped and shouted with all the force
of his lungs. With a sullen growl the lion
stopped also.
Then, a bowlder interposing between
the two. Quin turned and ran for his life
He gained the top Of the chimney and