, 1905-11-16

Ii&INu ben l%tosentlall had made
n0t2syNgn his millions Oh the dia-
- mond fields of South At
rlc:l and had ON ONE to enjoy them
according to his rights. How he went
to work viii scarcely he forgotten by
any reader OF the lalfpcnny evening
papers. which rcvclcI In endless nee
dotcs of his original Indulgence and
present pro1igality. varied with inter
cstlnS particulars OF the extraordinary
up in st. Johns wood. Here lie kept
Il rctinue of KailirS. who were liter
ally his slaves. IL hence he would
sally. with enormous diamonds In his
shirt IL III his finger. in the convoy
of Il prize fighter Of hcinous rCpute.
who was not. however. by any means
the worst element i'll the ltoSentiall
mcnaSc. So said gossip. But the
fact was sufficiently established by the
Interference of the police on ut least
one occasion. followed by certain mag
~istcrlal proceedings which were re-
ported with juStitiablc Susto and huge
headlines in the newspapers aforesaid.
and this was all one kncw of Reuben
~ltoscntliall up to the time when the
old bohemian club. having fallen on
evil days. found it worth its while
to organize II great dinner in honor
of SO wealthy an exponent of the clubs
principles. | was not ut the banquet
myself. but II mcmbcr took ~liafIlcs.
who told me all about it that very
night.
Most extraordinary show | ever
went to in my life" said he. AS for
the man himsclf-wcll. | WIS pre-
pared for something grotcsuuc, but
the fellow fairly tool my breath way.
TO bcgiu with, he's the most aStound-
ing brute to look ut. well over six
feet. with 4 chest like II barrel and
a great hook nose and the rcd&cSt
hair and whiSkcrs you ever saw:
drank like Il fire engine. but only got
drunk enough TO make Us II speech that
| wouldn't have missed for TO. I'm
only sorry You weren't there. 100. Fun
ny. old chap"
| began to he sorry myself. for Raj
fcS was anything but an cycit;Iblc per-
son. and never had l seen him so OK
cited before. Had he been following
Roscnthall'S example? His coming to
my rooms ut midnight merely to tell
mo about his dinner was in itself
enough to excuse Il suspicion which
WAS certainly at variance with my
knowledge of \. J. Rafilcs.
what did he say?" I inquired mo
chanically. divining some subtlcr OK
PLANTATION of this visit and wondering
what on earth it could he.
say cried Rallies. What did re
not say? He boosted OF his rise. he
Dragged of his riches. and he black
guarded society for taking him up for
his none and dropping him out of
sheer piqric and Jealousy because lie
had so much. He mentioned names,
too. with the most charming freedom
and sworc he was as good Il nan as
the old country had to Show-pacc the
oil Bohcmians. To prove It he point
ell 10 Il great diamond in the middle OF
his shirt front with IL little finger load
ell with another just like II. Which
OF our bloatcd princes could show Il
pair like that? As Il matter Of fact.
they seemed quito wonderful stones.
with a curious purple CLEAN to them
that must mean II pot of money. But
Old Roscntllall sworc he wouldn't take
fJ0.0UO for The two and wanted tn
know where the other man was who
went about with f2J.OOO in his shirt
front and another r25,OOO on his little
finger. He didn't exist. II lie did he
wouldn't have the pluck TO wear them.
But he lad-hc'd tell US why. And
before you &C lid say Jack Robinson
he had whipped III Il whlckinG great
revolver"
Not nj the table,
at the table. In the middle of his
speech. I:ut ii was nothing to what
he wanted to do. lie actually wanted
us to let him write his name in bull
lets on tn" opposite wall 10 show US
why he wasn't afraid TO 60 about In
all his diamonds. That brute Purris.
the prize fighter. who Is his paid bully.
had to bully his master before he
could be persuaded ont of it. There
was quite Il panic for the moment.
One fellow WAS saying his prayers
under the table. and the walters boltcd
TO Il man"
"Nhat Il grotesquc scene
"GrotcsQuc enough. but | rather wish
they had let him go the whole hog and
blaze away. lie WAS rs keen as knives
to show W. how he could take care of
his purple diamonds. and 10 you know,
Bunny, | was as keen rs knives to
see
And Rallies leaned toward me with
q sly, slow smile that made the hidden
meaning of his visit only too plain to
me nj last.
so you think of having Il try for his
diamonds?'
lie shrugged his shoulders.
at Is horribly obvious, l admit. But
yes. / have set my heart upon them.
To be quite frank. l have had them on
my conscience for some time. One
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