The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-06

A stout, jovial-looking person, with
reddish hair, sandy complexion ana
watery blue eyes stood waiting in my
office His wrist was attached py
means of a nickel-plated handcuff to
that of a keeper. The district attor-
new had directed me TO examine anu
report upon the case. My VISITORS oy
raason of their connection with eacn
other conducted themselves with re-
narkable unanimity and with but a
SINGLE motion sank into the chairs L
pushed toward them.
..weu. what's the trouble? L in
uuired genially.
The keeper jerked his thumb In tne
direction of the other, who srlnaed
epoIogetically and nitched in my direc-
ton, bringing his companion with him
somewhat involuntarily. Bending
toward me he whispered, Il am the VIC
tim of the greatest conspiracies in his
tory. My story involves persona3es OF
the highest rank and is stranger than
one of Dumas romances. 1 am a Dill
poster"
Not knowing whether he Intended to
include himself among the illustrious
persons alluded to, / nodded encourage
my name is Riggs" continued the
prisoner, as he bit off the end CT his
cigar and expelled it through the WIN
dow. Got a match?"
The keeper drew a handful from his
pocket / lit a cigar for myself ana as
sumed an altitude of attention.
I'm a bill poster and my name is
Riggs. My wife is little Slossie Riggs
Don't know her? Why, she dances at
Proctors and all over. l was dong
well at my trade and would have been
doing better if it had not been for tSat
COMPOUNDED diamond. It was this way.
There was a fellow named Tenney. who
posted bills with me about five years
back and he finally got job down in
the City of Mexico with a railroad and
] used to correspond with him.
among other things he told me
about a great big diamond that the
Emperor Macmillan used to wear in
the middle of his crown. According TO
Tenney it was one of the biggest on
record He said that Macmillan was
so stuck on it that he had it taken out
and made into a pendant for the En-
press Carlotta, and that she used to
wear it around at all the court func-
tions and so on. About the same time
he took two other diamonds out or the
crown and made them into finger rings
for himself.
After while the Mexicans got tired
of having an empire and turned round
and put Macmillan out of business.
They stood him and two of his generals
up in the parade ground at Querataro
and shot 'em. Now. when he was stood
up to get shot he had those two rings
on his fingers, and the funny part OF
IL was that when the people rushed
up to see whether he was dead or not
both the rings were gone. Just about
that time, while Carlotta was in prison,
the diamond with the big pendant dis
appeared, too. 1t weighed thirty-three
karats and was a perfect Screamer. I
got all this from Tenney. l don't know
where he found out about 1t. But 1t
= all happened way back in 81.
\ Somehow or other 1 used to think
a lot about that diamOnd-partly be-
cause l was sorry for Max, who looked
TO have come out at the small end and
there didn't seem to be any occasion
for shooting him anyhow, that 1 could
see
well, 1 went on bill posting and got
a good job with the Hair Restorer folk,
and was doing well. as l said, until
one day I happened to take up a paper
and read that there were two MeXicans
out in ST. LOUIS trying to sell an enor-
nous diamond, but that the dealers
were all afraid TO buy it. Finally the
police got suspicious and the MeXicanS
disappeared. Then all of a sudden it
came over me that this must be the