The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-01

a
pal, Crook Where is 1t ?"
Where is it? All over the place by
now Il sold 1T to an American on She
boat. and we drank a bottle. Then he
put the rest up to auction at Sontk
anpton, and it ought to be consola-
ton to you to know that 1t fetched
about flyer. all the eleven bottles.
Take your money and clear eut-I'm
bit tired of you.'
who sold ii ~ Hahn asked. eagerly.
gathering his faculties again. swhe
was the auctiOneer2r
"A man named Iaws0n-up by the
Memorial hall"
Hahn started up. seized the notes
and took his hat. Then he paused and
said with a curiouslys intent express
sion: You and the American tried a
bottle How did you find it, Any
thing unusual, eh ?"
'sOld Tokay's always unusual. isn't
II? Crook answered. ITS green
wine and very sweet
And you emptied it, quite to the
bottom?" Still Hahn regarded Crook
with the same intent gaze
Yes-we decanted it,
Hahn's steady look persisted for
few seconds and then he turned and
hurried cat.
Harvey Crook sat nightly astonish-
ed for about ten minutes. Then he
began to think the thing out Ruin
7piC1ity 1oE Ootn--take me INTO
anything unusual-what was he driy-
ing at?' he unused.
certain things were quite plain.
rms Wine, the value of which Hahn
had put at hundred pounds, was
clearly, for some mysterious reason or
other worth very great deal more
TO Hahn. Also, it was pretty obvious
that Hakn's touch of fever at Delhi
had been all sham. It's object was
not very difficult to divine For some
reason or another Hahn had wished
to have that case of Tokay brought
home by another person--wished it
to be in some other persons possession
even during the latter part Of his stay
in midland yet to be in perfectly
safe keeping. Why, seeing that he re-
Sarded 1T as so valuable possession.
There could only be one reason for
that-fear OF the consequences If it
Were found in his possession But why.
again? He had bought or traded for
the wine openly, it was plain, or he
would not have talked Of it SO readily
and unreservedly. From these consid-
erations and from Hahn's unguarded
expressions 1t became clear to Har-
Vey Crook that there must have been
something in that case more valuable
than Wine. however, rare and costly.
And with that a thought struck him
like bullet. The Eye or Goonai
Hahn was notoriously quite a we'll
to-do man; that talk of the Importance
OF hundred pounds to his wife and
Iamlly was pure CANNON. as was very
plain from his Indifference to thee two
hundred the wine had fetched. 5sThes
wife and family themselves were also
CANNON, probably. But the Eyeeof
Goona-that would be a prize for. the
richest man alive.
The notion seemed a trif1e extrava-
CANT at first, but as he thought it out
every consideration confirmed his sus-
picions. What else should Hahn he
afraid to have in his belongings in Del
hi? 1t would be a portable sort of thing,
easily carried about in a waistcoat
pocket, anywhere. But the hue and
cry was up, and anybody might have
been searched. More, the ways of In
dian princes and their retainers were
apt to be subtle and unconventional
If thief could be got to creep unde-
tected into rajah's guarded tent, an
other, who might also be an assassin,
could be commissioned to get into a
European dealers quarters with the
like secrecy.
Then the obvious practicability of the
thing was to be considered. Assun,-
Ing, to begin with, that the stolen green
diamond had found it's way into
Hahns possession, what course of ac-
ton could possibly be more natural
than the one he had adopted? To carry
1t about with him among invisible
emissarfes Of the rajah, who might have
unsuspected clews to its whereabouts,
would have been to risk it's loss-very
probably to risk death. To hide 1t
would be the obvious expedient-to
hide it in some movable object which
might go out of the country unsuspect-
ed. What more likely place Of con-
cealment than in dark bottle of old
wine? And here significant fact pre-
scented Itself. The Eye of Goona was
of oval shape, and just a trifie more
than an inch wide. That would never
have passed the neck of an ordinary
wine bottle--but these were magnums.
The neck OF magnum would be large
enough Just to let such a Jewel slip
comfortably through. Then the cork
might be replaced, the old seal care
fully counterfeited, and all made snug
in that innocent case Of a dozen mag
NUNS.
Plainly something Of the sort had
been done, and plainly the concealed
object must be a jewel Of some sort.
What else of SO great yalue could be
kept in such a bottle? For, If any
one thing was certain, it was that 1t
was in bottle and not loose In the
case, that the valuable object was con-
cealed. Hahn's pointed inquiries as to
the bottle that had been opened were
sufficient assurance Of that. And he
had gone off In hurry to find the auc-
tioneer, and no doubt SO trace the dis
persed bottles.
So much being assumed. and so
much proved, Hahn's trick In putting
on him the danger and responsibility
of getting the plunder home was easy
enough to understand.
Hahn had slammed fever, but watt
ed till he was safely off in the Rajapur
and then had hastened to get ahead of
him by mail boat and overland route
to receive the prize safely in London.
Everything pointed to the Eye. What
other great Jewel had been lost And
at any rate. Eye of Goona or not, the
gem must be one Of extraordinary
value, from all the evidence. The ex-
act circumstances OF the robbery must
still remain In some doubt: there was.
at present. no telling how the jewel
had reached Hahn's hand, nor what
was the explanation OF the dummy
stone found in the hands of the slain
thief But putting these doubts aside
for the moment, the bare fact seemed
to emerge very clearly In Harvey
Crooks mind; there was jewel of
fabulous value in one of those eleven
bottles of wine, now dispersed by sale.
Hahn had tricked him-had subjected
him to the whole risk of transporting
his plunder into safe quarters, and
was now In agonized pursuit Of that