Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-01
CHAPTER VIII.

Its the Blue Pear she said. hest
tatingly. wondering how to begin-"which.
of course. means nothing to you"
And just what is 1t. please?"
THE Blue Pear. Jim. is diamond It's a
diamond that you and l, in some way or
another have got to get back!'
ITO get back? Then when did we lose
t?'
lost it.Thats what I've got to tell YOU"
'Well. first tell me what it is" he said,
wondering at her seeming gayety, not COM
pretending her nervous rebound from de-
preston to exhilaration.
Its very odd diamond, and very big
diamond. only tinted with a pale blue col
oring the same as the Hope diamond Is
tinged with yellow. That's how it came to
get it's name. But the odd thing about 1t Is
that when it was cut in Amsterdam. rather
than grind away a fifteen-carat irregulir-
ity, 1t was left In a sort OF pear shape.
Even before 1t was mounted by Lalique It
sold in Paris for we'll over four thousand
pounds. Later in Rio de Janero it brought
something like five thousand pounds. There
1t was given to French actress by a
Spanish american coffee king. 1t was an
African stone, in the first place"
But what's all this geography for?"
asked Durkin.
"Wait. dear heart, and you'll understand
The coffee king quarreled with the Paris
woman. This woman. though smuggled
sold there a few months later for about
one-fourth It's market value. Still later 1t
was bought for little under six thousand
pounds by the Earl of Warrior, who gave
it to his younger daughter. Lady Margaret
Singford. when she married young Cicely-
Sir Charles Cicely. who was wounded In
the Boer war. you remember. Well, Sir
Charles didn't like the setting-it had been
made into marquise ring of some sort
so he took it to hene Lalique's workshop
in Paris and had it mounted after his own
IDEAS
but who is Lalique?"
"a French Fart nonveau gOldSnith-the
Louis Tiffany of the continent. ut I've a
lot to tell you. jim. and only a little time
to do it in SO We chall have to cut out
these details Lai.que made pendant of
the Blue Pear. hung on tnln gold Stem
between little leaves of beaten go d. with
diamond dewdrops on them. Well, four
weeks ago the Blue Pear was stolen from
Lady Margaret's jewel case No, I'M
thank you, not by me; but II you ii wait ii
try to explain.
Il hardly know what made me do tit
was ennu and being lonesome. l suppose.
Perhaps it was the money-a little. But,
you see, when Albert. my innocentiy way
ward young cousin. got mixed up with
young Singford l found out thing or two
about that less innocent gentleman. Il
started me thinking: and thinking. OF
course, started me acting
He nodded, as a sign that he was follow
ing her Il had detective-agency cards
printed. and went straight to the Cicelys.
Lady Margaret wouldn't see ME; she sent
down word that the reward of two hundred
pounds was still open. and that there was
no new information. But 1 saw her at last
i shan't explain just how. Before very
long 1 found out something further. and
rather remarkable-that Lady Margaret
wanted to drop the case altogether, and
was trying to blind Scotland Yard and the
police. And that made me more deter
mined"
before the end of the week 1 found out
that young Sngford, Lady Margaret's
brother, had been mixed up in row at
Monaco, had made mess of things, later,
at Oxford and had decided to try ranching
in the Canadian northwest. I had already
booked my passage on the Deutschland. but
the whole thing then meant too much to
me, and. when 1 found young Singford was
sailing that week on the Teutonic. l sue
ceeded in getting a berth on that steamer.
JIM as soon as l saw that wretched boy on
deck, knew that I had guessed right, or
almost right. oh. l know them, know
them! 1 suppose it's because. in the last
year or two, I have come in contact with
so many of them. But there he was. as
plain as day. criminal with stage-fright.
a beginner without enough nerve to face
things out. I rather think he may have
been nice boy at one time. And l know
just how easy it is, once you make the first
little wrong turn. to keep on and on, until
you daren't turn back, even II you had the
chance to-"
And you took pity on, him?" inquired
Durkn. ''or did you merely vivisect him at
a dstance?"
Not altogether-but first 1 must tell you
of the second dilemma. Before we sailed,
and the first day out, l thought it best to
keep to my cabin, you can understand why,
of course. After all. this is such a little
world, when you know the central office
might be after your
COR some old business friend?"
THAT was precisely what l thought. only
a good deal harder, when I sat down to
no d1v 21apped
across the table. You remember my telling
you about my first experiences In America.
when 1 was shrinking and pink-cheeked
young English governess, and never knew
bold thought, or a dishonest act? Do you
remember my describing the woman-its
always a woman who is hard on another
woman!-who accused me of-or having de-
signs on her husband? Her husband,
miserable oily little Hebrew diamond mer-
chant who twice insulted me the stairs
of his own house. when l had to swallow 1t
without word! Well 1t was that woman
who sat across the table from me. They
had put me at the captains table-my Lon
don gown, you see, looks uncommonly well.
But there was that woman. little more
faded and wizened and wrinkled, looking at
me with those beady old hawk eyes OF hers;
and knew there was trouble ahead"
"a war correspondent, who had been nice
to me. had brought up about everybody at
to me, that night before going down. So,
when 1 saw that yellow face and those
hawk eyes, knew had to think hard and
fast"
"Are you not the young woman she
said in a sort of frappe of nasal indigna-
ton, are you not the young woman whom
I once employed governess and dis
charged for misconducting herself with-er
with the other servants?'
"I was so busy trying to be cool that
didn't bother thinking out an answer. I
did want to say, though, that 1t was not
servant but her own devoted and anointed
husband. 1 kept on talking to the. captain,
deciding to ignore her iciy. But that yell
low bag deliberately repeated her question,
and l heard the war correspondent gasp
out an indignant My God. madam and
saw the captains face growing redder and
redder. So I went on and asked the cap
tain If intoxication was becoming COM
moner on the high seas Then she began to
splutter and tremble. 1 kept looking at her
as languidly as ever. and steward had to
help her away.
But she knew that she was right. And
she knew that 1 knew she knew. Though
had all the men on my side, and the cap
tain cheerfully saw to it that she was
moved down to the tail end of the doctors
table, among the commercial travellers and
the school ma ans, l knew well enough that
she was only waiting for her chance.
''It didn't change the face of things, but
1t upset me, and made me more cautious In
SyI-z