The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-09-15
A COSTUME
PIECE
Ccoryaisbl, I699. By cbarIa. ssabar', soa,)
No. 2 of the Series


H5TEE1Ii ben Roseuthall had made
nSyxSgSySSl his millions on the dja.
- mond fields OF South Al.
RIGA and had come home TO enjoy them
according to his rights How he went
70 work will scarcely be forgotten 10y
any reader OF the hs'fpenny evening
papers. which revpIel in euLleSs anec-
doteS Of his orig.na, indulgence and
present prodigaHv. varied with inter.
eSting particulars ri the extraordinary
establishment which the millionaire set
up In st Johu'S wood. Here he kept
a retiuue of KafIirs. who were liter
ally his slaves. and hence he would
sally. with enormous diamonds in his
shirt and on his finger. in the convoy
of a prize fighter Of heinous repute,
who was not. however 10y any means
the worst element iu the Roseutha,
menage So said gossip But the
fact was sufficiently eSfau shell by the
Interference Of tile police on at least
one occasion. followed 10y certain mag
iSteriIl proceedings which We're ra-
ported with iuSu1dhie gustO and huge
headlines iH the newspapers aforesaid,
and this was all one knew OF Reuben
RoSeuthan up % the time when the
old Bohemian club. having fallen on
evil days, found it worth its while
10 organize great dinner i'm honor
Of SO wealthy an exponent Of the clubs
principles. | was not ut the banquet
myself. but member took RatIleS.
who told NE all about it that very
night
Most extraordinary show l ever
went To in my life said he. "As for
the man himself-well, | was pre-
pared for something grotesque. but
the fellow fairly took my breath away.
To begin with. he's the most aStound-
ing brute TO look at. well over six
feet with a chest ike a barrel and
great hook nose and the reddeSt
hair and whiSkers you ever saw;
drank ike a fire engine, hut only got
drunk enough to make us a speech that
l wouldn't have missed for tlo. I'm
only sorry you weren't there, too. Bun.
ny. Old chap
l began 10 be sorry myself. for Raj.
hes was anything but an excitable per.
son, and never had | seen him so ex.
cited before Had he been following
RosenthalrS examples His coming TO
my rooms at midnight merely TO tell
me about his dinner was in itself
enough to excuse a suspicion which
was certainly at variance with my
knowledge Of \. J. Raffies
"What did he say?" | inquired me-
chanically, divining some subtler er-
PLANTATION of this visit and wondering
what on earth it could he
say" cried RafleS. What did he
not say? He boasted OF his rise, he
Dragged of bis riches and he black
guarded society for taking him up for
his money and dropping him out of
sheer pique and jealousy because he
had so much. He mentioned names
too. with the most charming freedom
and Swore he was as good q man as
the old country had TO show-pace the
old BohemianS 70 prove il he point
ed to great diamond in the middle of
his shirt front with a little finger load.
ed with another just Ike il. Which
Of our bloated princes could show
pair like that; As matter Of fact
they seemed quite wonderful stones,
with a curious purple CLEAN TO them
that must meaa a pot OF money. But
old Rosenthau swore he wouldn't take
10000 for the two and wanted 10
know where the other man was who
went about with f25.O00 in his shirt
front and another $4,000 on his little
finger He didn't exist II he did he
wouldn't have the pluck to wear them.
But he had-he'd tell Us why And
before you could say Jack Robinson
he had whipped out whacking great
revolver
Not at the tablet"
AT the table, In the middle OF his
speech. But it was nothing 10 what
be wanted to do. He actually wanted
us 70 let him write his name in bull
lets on the opposite wall to show us
why he wasn't afraid to 20 about in
all his diamonds. That brute Purvis,
the prize fighter, who is his paid bully.
had 70 bully his master before lie
could be persuaded out of il. There
was quite a panic for the moment.
One fellow was saying his prayers
under the table. and the walters bolted
TO a man"
'What a grotesque scene."
"GrotesQue enough. but rather wish
they had let him go the whole hog and
blaze away. He was as keen as knives
to show Us how lie could take care Of
his purple diamonds, and do you know,
Bunny. / was as keen as knives to
see"
And Rallies leaned toward me with
a sly, slow smile that made the hidden
meaning OF his visit only too plain to
me at last.
80 you think of having a try for his
diamonds?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
1T is horribly obvious, admit But
yes, have set my heart upon them.
To be quite frank. have had them on
my conscience for some time. One
couldn't hear so much of the man and
his prize fighter and his diamonds
without feeling it a kind of duty to
have a go for them. but when it comes
to brandishing a revolver and practi-
cally challenging the world the thing
becomes Inevitable 1t is simply thrust
tlpon one I Una fafa1 IN haar thar