The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-06-21

exquisite diamond glittering il
H. my chiefs hand. 1 could scarce
~ believe that 1 was to have tn,
honor of bearing it to its destination.
But it is perfectly true" averreC
Mr.. GilrOy, head of the firm of emin
ent London jewellers. LET me tel
you, Mr.. Johnson, that you have woI
our confidence. Yes. sir. we trust you
implicitly. You don't suppose that WI
should LET you have charge of a twenty
thousand pound stone if we didn't. Ell
Now, all you have to do is to deliver
it safely into the hands of Silas P.
Silsbury, the New York millionaire. II
you fail-but. pshaw! we will not think
of such a thing"
Then he took from his escritoire a
leathern belt, which had a specially
constructed pocket in the centre. Into
this pocket he thrust the diamond, af-
ter having wrapped it round and round
with w~ashleather. Locking the pocket
he placed the key in my baud. saying:
For the present 1 will fasten the
belt outside your vest, and your coat
and o%vercoat will protect it. But when
you get home place it beneath your
vest, and do not let it leave you night
or day"
The clock was striking G as | reached
the street. l occupied myself for
some time making sundry purchases.
among them being a revolver, which l
sincerely hoped 1 should have no occa-
sion to use. Ihad a bag with me, and
into this l packed my purchases.
1t was getting on for s o'clock when
l had finished shopping, and. jumping
on n Battersea bus l gave myself UP
to thoughts of my f~iancee, to whose
home i was now journeying. / was
going to tell her about the jewel, and
her only.
Mary Hampden was a girl of whom
any man might be proud, and 1 counted
the winning of her as the most blessed
circumstance in my life.
Mary was. busily engaged sewing
when / was shown into her presence.
but when she saw me she hastily put
down her work and rose to her feet
with an exclamation of pleasure. We
had exchanged but a few words when.
with a woman's quick intuition, she
said:
something has happened, Tom?"
"You are not at fault. Mary" 1 said.
but that which has happened is so
wonderful that / scarcely think you
will be able to credit it when I tell il to
you"
Then don't keep me waiting long"
she said, with a laugh.
1 did not keep her waiting long. She
listened at~tentively to all 1 had to say,
when 1 had finished, she said:
May 1 see the jewel, dear?"
1 said EYES," and withdrawing 1t
from its receptacle handed it to her.
She unfolded the leather and gazed
long and earnestly at the glittering
thing, then she slowly recovered it and
restored it to me with an air of such
evident reluctance that 1 had much
difficulty in REFRESHING a smile.
What have you in that bag, Tom?"
she inquired, as / rose to depart.
"All Sorts" l answered, carelessly.
"A revolver, for one thingw
Her face paled.
as it necessary to take it?" size
asked.
We'll, there's nothing like being pre-
pared for emergencies" 1 said.
Heaven grant that you may never
any occasion to use 1t, Tomp
So We parted, Mary forcing a smile,
albeit her face was still pale and her
eyes anxious.
Soon l was on the outside pavement,
underneath the silent stars, and the |
cool night wind was< blowing on my
face. While passing through the hall
l had noticed that the clock registered
1915.
My chief thoughts were OF Mary.
Our interview had made a great i'm
preston on my mind, and every word
she had spoken wasindelibly impressed
my memory, every expression her
face had worn was fresh before my
eyes. For her sake, no less than my
own, l hoped to be successful in my
l had reached a lonely part of my
way, when, suddenly, a dark figure
up on either side of me; a third
appeared at my back. Before I had
time to dart forward, or even to utter
a cry, my arms were pinioned and a
hand was thrust over my mouth.
Struggle I did. desperately, but my
strength was ~unavailing, pitted against
the strength of three. 1 was brought
to the ground and held fast down.
The bag! Where is the bag?" cried
one of my 8ssailants in eager tones.
My hopes rose, but were quickly
dashed.
Fool" said another voice. I started.
It was the voice of Hamilton. my fei-
low clerk. ] had always thought he