The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-01

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while the other had been peunced on
by Mehta Singh before he had plant
ed" the imitation. But then another
and a simpler possibility grew appar-
ent. Might not the Eye Of Goona have
been stolen already, before the rajah's
train came to Delhi, and the imitation
left in its place? 1t might have been
months before-eyen years; and while
the slain thief had lost his life in an
unwilling attempt to steal the sham
gem. the real jewel might lie safely In
the hands OF another.
OF the two possibilities this last
seemed the more likely. and grew into
more general acceptance as the efforts
of the police and Of the rajah's secret
agents proved futile. The camps broke
up and scattered throughout India, car
rying with them to every corner the
news of the loss of the Eye OF Deccan.
Bazaar runlor said this and that,
telling lies and truth in good adniix-
ture. And at last there came in wllis-
pers strange tale. told now ia one
way and then In another: but the sub
stance of 1t was that there was no more
Mehta Singh In Goona. Dark things
are done In the smaller native states.
which the British residents hear less
of than is whispered in the vernacular
ished, that all the whisperers agreed;
but how he had vanished was matter
OF doubt and mystery. 1t would have
been no new or strange thing for a ra-
jah in his own palace, enraged at the
loss of favorite jewel, to take ven-
geance on the officer whose duty it had
been to keep it SAFE or who had failed
to recover it. once it had gone. no mat
ter how faithfully he had tried and
such thing would be done with Sc
crecy and hidden with great care in
these days of the British Raj. The same
fate might have befallen any member
of the household suspected of COM
plicity In the theft. However that
might be, the fate of Mehta Singh who
had struck down the thief in the Dur
bar camp, remained as much mystery
as that OF the Eye of Goona itself.
Among the many Europeans attract
ed to the great spectacle at Delhi were
good few who came on business.
There were travellers for firms in Eu
rope and In Calcutta. as well as many
traders on their own accounts. For
instance, there was Hahn. of Europe
in general. who bought and sold all
over the world whatever was to be
bought cheap and sold dear. from old
Italian masters to domestic machinery.
Hahn spoke English for the most part.
and called himself Frank, though there
were tuOSe VINO Called nlfn FTdnZ, anu
there was trifiing accent In his eX-
cellent English that seemed to give
them reason: but others held that nei-
ther Frank nor Franz nor Hahn were
names he had always used, and that
his first sally upon the commercial
world had been from Galicia. Hahn had
effected a trade here and there, had
sold on his own account and on COM
mission some sporting guns among the
Esy1rQrln9f1 H.
ture; and he had picked UP curious
bargain in the shape of a dozen mag
NUNS Of old Tokay. which had been ly-
ing forgotten in some great Delhi cei-
lar since early in the nineteenth cen
tury: and in the middle of the celebra-
tions he had been laid up with a bad
touch of the fever. It was while he had
been SO laid up that he sent to beg a
call from Harvey Crook. who was him.
self a visitor on business.
Harvey Crook was not what one
would call dealer, although it was
fact that he made his living by deals
in strange things-deals few and far be-
tween, but each sufficiently profitable
to keep him going in the way of life he
loved best, travelling the world through
and taking adventures as they came.
He was wiry man of about the middle
size or a trifie under. dark because OF
his constant travel, though naturally
Of the complexion Of the average Eng
lishman: keen Of eye and active as a
cat: and his age was thirty-five.
He received Hahn's message with
some surprise, for his acquaintance
with the man was very slight. But on
reflection he could not remember that
anybody else about Delhi just then
was any more intimate with Hahn
than he was himself; so with no par
tlcuiar enthusiasm, he lit another
cigar and qfrol1od into noJhi
streets.
He found the dealer lying in q
darkened room In a house which had
been hired temporarily as an annex
to hotel. There was not much sick
ness about, 1t was an uncommon time
of year for fever, and Crook wondered
to find the room kept so dark. unless
the case were very bad indeed 1t
scarcely seemed that it was, for Hahn
greeted him with great friendiiness.
Good day, my dear Crook he
said: you are an angel OF light here
in the dark room. 1t is good of you
to ccme." There was faint likeness
to ''goot" and ''gom" In two OF the
words and angel sounded a little
like "anchel;" but not enough to no.
tice.
Not at ALL Crook replied civilly.
What can do for you?" Not very
bad, hope? Wrong time of year for
Yes, yes, but I am very subject I
am better now-just for an Hour. I
take 1T like that; presently shall be
much worse. When will you be going
back home? Soon. expect ?"
Yes-the next boat from Bombay
when the shindy's over. It's lucky my
passage was booked-they're pretty
well crowded up"
That's the Rajapur, isn't it? Not a
mail boat?"
"ouite right. The P. & O. mails a
week after. The Rajapur's a slower
boat, but all I could get, and quite
good enough. Want me to do anything
for you aboard ?"
Harvey Crook was sitting by the
bed and Hahn took him by the wrist.
L want you to take a case" he said,
a case Of wine. Will you? I'll do as
much for you some day. It's valua-
BILE stuff
Harvey Crooks home going baggage
was small enough. for he was carry
ing nothing but his personal belong
ings. "All right" he said. "I daresay
l can. Want me to take 1t to q Gus
toner at home ?"
No. no-not to a customer; only to
take it and see 1t isn't damaged If
you will, of course I'll pay the expenses.
and I'm good for a commission when