The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-04

F the various rohberies in
 0 which we were both con-
 eerned, it is but the few,
 find. that will bear tell
 ing at any length. Not
 that the others contained
 details which even
 would hesitate to re-
 count it is, rather the very absence of untoward incident which renders them useless for my present purpose. In point of fact our plans were so craftily laid (by Raftles) that the cnances of a hitch were in- varfably reduced to a minimum before we went to work. We might be dis appointed In the market value of our haul; but it was quite the exception for us to find ourselves confronted bv unforeseen impediments, or involved fin A really dramatic dilemma. There was a sameness even in our spoil; for of course, only the most precious stones are worth the trouble We took and the risks we ran. In short, our most successful escapades would prove the greatest weariness of all In narra- tive form; and none more so than the dull affair of the Ardagh emeralds, some eight or nine weeks after the Winchester cricket week. The former however had a sequel that l would rather forget than all our burglarles put together.
 It was the evening after our return from Ireland. and I was waiting at my rooms for Rallies, who had gone off as usual to dispose of the piuhuer' Rallies had his own method Of eolluct- ing this very vital branch or our pus- mess. which I was well content to leave entirely in his hands. lie droVe the bargains, l believe. In thlh put subtle disguise of the hashy-seeay order, and always in the Coekney dla- I.ct of which he had made hlmsell master. Moreover, he invariably en- ployed the same fence, who was ostensibly a money-lender in small (but yet notorious) way and in real ity a. rascal as remarkable as Rallies himself. Only lately l also had been to the man, but in my proper person. We had needed capital for the getting of these very emeralds' and l had raised hundred pounds, on the terms you would expect from soft-spokeh graybeard with an ingratiating smie an incessaut bow, and the shlftless oll eyes that ever flew from rim to rim of a pair of spectacles. So the original sinews and the final spells of war came in this case from the self same sOurce-a circumstance Whlch appealed to us buth
 But these same final spells l was still to see. and I waited and waited with an impatience that grew upon me with the growing dusk. At my window l had played Sister Ann until the faces in the street below were no longer distinguishable. And now was tearing to and fro in the grip of horrible hypotheses-a grip that tight ened when at last the lift-gates opened with a chatter outside-that held me breathess until well-known tattoo followed on my door,
 "In the dark" said Rallies as dragged him in. Why, Bunny, what's wrong?p
 "Nothing-now you've come" said I, shutting the door behind him in . fever of relief and anxiety. Well? Well2 What did they fetch?"
 Five hundred"
 Down."
 "Got 1t in my pocket"
 "Good mann I cried. You don't know what a stew I've been in. I'll switch on the light I've been think ing of you and nothing else for the last hour. l-l was aSS enouBu lo think something had gone wrong!"
 Rallies was smiling when the white light filled the room, but for the mos ment l did not perceive the peculiarity of his smile. I was fatuously full of my own late tremors and present re- lief; and my first idlotic act was to spill some whiskey and squirt tho soda water all over in my anxiety to do instant justice to the occasion.
 "So you thought something had hap pened?" said Rallies leaning back in my chair as he lit a cigarette and looking much amused. What should you say if something had? Sit tight, my dear chap It was nothing of the slightest consequence. and it's all over now stern chase and long one, Bunny, but l think I'm well to wind ward this time
 And suddenly I saw that his collar was limp. his hair matted, his boots thick with dust.
 "The police?' I whispered aghast. "Oh dear, no; only old Baird.'
 Baird, But wasn't it Baird who took the emeralds?"
 "It was"
 "Then how came he to chase you?" My dear fellow, I'll tell you if you give me q chance; it's really nothing to get the least excited about. Old Baird has at last spotted that I'm not quite the common cracksman I would