The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-08-18

Copyright. lru-, by T. T. Mcclure
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A man with but one arm stood lean
ing against the showcase. The other
arm, the false one. rested partly on the
tray OF diamonds. On the hand Of that
arm he wore conventional glove OF
black. He was a well dressed man.
with 4 smooth shaved face. He was
examining some high priced stones
With his other hand. the left one. he
finally picked out n small diamond.
probably the least expensive of the lot.
and asked the clerk to wrap II up. At
the same time he pulled from his trou-
sers pocket n roll Of bills at least three
inches thick and with the left hand
deftly counted out enough to pay for
his purchase.
purchased ge.l and then seized the
tray to replace II in the case.
As he did so he rapidly counted with
his eye the remaining stones. as was
in addition to the one he himself had
taken from the tray. He glanced sus-
pieiously at the one armed man.
II beg your pardon, sir" he said po-
litely, but reaching as he did so for his
revolver underneath the counter. but
there are two stones missing. I-have
you taken themy- He made this in
uuiry with hesitation
The one armed man looked the clerk
squarely in the eye. "You are quite
right to be careful" he said pleasantly.
..but did not take the stones. How
many were there 'beforeT
The clerk told him. Come" return
ed the man; 1--WE will count them to-
gether. then"
They did so. They found the tally
right There was none missing. The
man was right and the clerk was
wrong. He apologized profusely, but
the one armed man took no offense
whatever at the incident. He received
his diamond and his change and spent
several minutes chatting about dia-
mond robberies and safeguards against
them and then went his way.
"Queer thing happened then," called
the clerk to another. II came near
telling that swell that he was a thief;
thought that he took couple Of bril-
liants counted 'em wrong and told
him that he must have 'em. He said
he hadn't. Then 1 counted 'em over
again and found 'em all right. And he
wasn't mad about it either"
"Are you sure they're right now"
returned the other. an older man. Let
me see the tray"
The tray was produced. Before 1t
reached the counter the old man seized
the two largest diamonds 1t contained
and held them to the light.
Done, by Georgew he exclaimed.
These are made of glass; that's all"
Sneakers" Kelly, the crack plain
clothes man at headquarters. was put
on the case at once.
'I've heard of this fellow" he an
| nounced to the jewelry firm. Hes 4
| new proposition and a slick one at that,
I understand, and there have been q
good many complaints about him. We
| haven't been able to make a touch as
yet I'll see what / can do, but guess
it's best for you to charge the thing up
to profit and loss right now. Even IL
| overhaul the man it's ten to one 1 won't
get the stones. I'll do my best. though.
gentlemen"
| That happened in Chicago. In Janu-
airy Of the next year. on a cold. crisp
day. two prosperous looking men stood
almost side by side In a fashionable
| jewelry store.
One Of them was dressed I'm furs and
wore rich Jewels He was a snowy
man. with a red face This was
Sneakers" Kelly Of Chicago.
The other man was a man Of grave
| appearance. He wore a gray beard
and his hair was tinged with white.
By his appearance he was an aristo-
crat-probably the president Of a bank.
In his left hand he held a fur mitten-
only one. His right was clothed In a
light colored suede glove. He was
buying diamonds
Kelly watched this man closely
more closely than did the clerk. Final.
ly the clerk handed out a few small
bills and a small white packet and be
left As he did so Kelly followed him
When they reached the sidewalk Kelly
touched him ON the arm. The man
glanced at him but once. and then
swinging around suddenly struck kel
ly in the head with his right hand. II
was hard as iron. Kelly was stunned
He reeled and fell. When he came to
the other man was about to enter a
carriage which stood at the curb. The
carriage started of, but before the
door was shut Kelly had succeeded In
seizing that right false arm with a
tight and unrelenting grip. The man
beat him about the face with the otheI
hand and the coach went faster and
faster, but Kelly clung desperately tc
the hand. his feet dragging upon the
street below.
4 Suddenly, as they swung around q
corner. there were a snap and jeri
and Kelly fell. face downward on the
pavement. 1t was late in the after
noon and dark and no one had noticet
what had happened. Kelly lay for 6
moment, but soon recovered and scram
bled to his feet, just in time to avoit
being run down by heavy truck.
And as he rose he grasped something
tightly in his arms. This object b,
: o. \.