The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-04-05


In a paroxysm OF rage and despair
! picked up my hat and coat and went
home, and not until / reached my own
freside did | realize the full force Of
the blow he had dealt me. Throwing
myself into my armchair, ! gazed into
the glowing embers and tried 10 col
lcct my scattered senses. Midnight
arrived, and was chimed out by the
little Cupid on the mantclpiece, but
remained In the semidarkness, fol
| lowing an unbrOkcn train Of thoughts.
Then the recollection Of my days
work came back 10 me. What had !
been doing before my Interview with
hlmi sat bolt upright, as / remem-
bered that still lying on my desk were
four large emcralds which ! had for
gotten 10 put away before joining him
In the study. Then, without waiting
| TO consider the matter further ]
rushed out into the night and made
my way back to Regent street.
| Arriving there | let myself in at
| the private entrance with the key !
| was allowed TO retain, and hurried
into my own office. Yes, there were
the four stones just where ] had laid
them, and with a sigh Of relief /
placed them i'm the safe and turned
the key. Then ! prepared to retrace
my steps, but some Irresistible fascin-
alton made me enter the shop TO look
at the great ruby that would one day
| be hers. ! III vesta as ! reached the
| window and held IL above my head.
| Great heavens, Was / dreaming or
-? / rubbed my eyes and looked
again. The great ruby had disap-
pcared!
Stung ms though the loss were my
own and overcome by feeling | can
hardly term fear, | allowed the match
| TO burn until it reached my fingers,
| then dropped II, only 10 light another
and stare In the weird light at the VA
cant place. what could do2 Even
| il | alarmed the house, Potter would
| probably suspect me of being the
| thief after the words he had spoken
| but few hours before. | looked
| around, but there were no signs of
any one having broken In, which was
| rcassuring. After all, perhaps. the
stone had only been taken out 10y one
| of the assistants to he busted; but
why. then, had the case been leftY
After having made minute exam
natiOn of the shop and found nothing,
| barred the door again and walked
| away, i'll at ease. 1t was evident that
| the ruby had been removed before
closing hours, so perhaps the mystery
would be cleared away in the morn
| ing |, therefore, crcpt from the build
| ing ms noiselessly as possible, and up
on turning the corner was on the
point of colliding with the night
Waterman when fear of recognition
caused me 10 take an opposite direc-
ton.
The following morning | returned TO
Regent street AT the usual hour eX-
pcctng TO be Informed of the robbery
by the first person | came In contact
with, but to my astonishment no one
seemed I'm the least concerned |,
therefore, went to the window, and
could scarcely believe my eyes when
] saw the ruby was back in its accus-
toned place. and, what was even
more surprising, nobody knew any
thing about It's removal
Truly | was confronted with n mys-
| terry of leviathan proportions, and for
| the nonce scarcely knew how 10 act
Silence, | argued. was the best poll
cy, though my employer during the
| day did his best TO atone for his un-
| seemly conduct of the previous even
| ing | refraincd from telling him any
| thing of the matter, for | began to
doubt whether | had not been suffer
| ing from an illusion. Hut my curl
osity was piqued, and the following
| night returned To Regent street ut
quarter To one. Again the ruby was
taken and replaced in the same mys
| tcrious manner!
| The anxiety was now becoming too
| great TO bear alone. SO | took the first
| opportunity of going In search of my
employer in the morning, and met
him as he emerged from his office
dressed for going out and with port
manteau in his hand.
| Just had n wire from Glasgow.
Burke, so am of. Look after the
place while I'm away And with
| these few words he disappeared
through the street door.
There was now nothing for me To
do but 10 watch alone, and during
the ensuing twonty.four hours | made
a startling discovery. At midnight |
re-entcrcC the shop. and, rs had cx-
pectcd. the ruby was missing, but ly-
ing suggestivcly near the empty case
was--a small gray feather. This |
picked up, and having carefully
placed il I'm my letter rase went home
TO think the matter out. Even now
the mystery had begun 20 clear.
My first duty the following morn
ing was To examine the ruby with the
aid of powerful magnifyiug glass
for | had come TO the conclusion
that it's mysterious Journeys at night
were being caused for one purpose
only-that of making an artificial
stone SO exactly resembling the ruby
as TO be capable of taking its place
without the fraud being discovered
until the perpetrators had disappeared
from the country! \ few minutes
later the truth OF this Surmise became
painfully evident to ne. tor the great
gem | seemed to hold in my hand
was nothing hut n wonderful copy I'm
glass compoms Of the great ruby.
had been foiled
Mr.. Burke-Philip" | recognized
the voice without setting eyes upon
the speaker. and. as | turned a pretty