The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-09-13


moment. Now. give me the diamonds.
and III go. don't want you to be
seen with me outside this room"
gave her the necklace, and she
was at the door before could open it.
CHAPTER VII.
Iv0r Is Lntc for An Appoint mcnt.
l was glad to be alone. for as / had
said. wanted to think quietly.
Maxine had taken the diamonds. hut
she had slipped the necklace into the
bosom OF her dress, pressing it down
through the rather 1ow-cut opening
at the throat, and had therefore, left
the leather case. 1 picked the thing
up from the table where she had
thrown it, and examined 1t carefully
for the first time.
1t had not been originally intended
as a jewel-case, that was clear: and as
Maxine's voice had rung Enthusiastically
true when she denied all previous
knowledge of it to the police, judged
that the diamonds had not been in it
when the Duchess entrusted them to
du Laurier. He would almost certainly
have described to Maxine the box or
case which had been stolen from him.
and If the thing pulled out from the
sofa-hiding-place had recalled his de-
scription, she must have betrayed some
emotion under the keen eyes of the
Oh FoiiSS.
The case which, it seemed had
brought to Paris. looked as il it might
have been made to hold peculiar kind
of cigar, much larger than the ordinary
sort Within, on either side. was IA
partition, and there was a silver clasp
on which the hallmark was English.
English silver!" / said to myself,
thoughtfully. The three men who had
travelled in the carriage with me from
London to Dover were all English. or
the trio. only the nervous little fellow
who had reserved the compartment for
himself, had found the smallest pos
sible opportunity to steal the treaty
from me, and exchange for it this red
leather case containing diamond
necklace worth twenty thousand
pounds. If he possessed the skill and
quick dizziness of a conjurer or q mar
velously clever professional plckpocket,
as well as the incentive of paid spy,
he might conceivably have done the
trcl, at the moment Of alarm on the
boats gangway, not afterwards. 1or
when he had pressed near me In the
Care du Nord he had been on the
wrong side But for my life could
not guess the motive for such an eN-
change.
supposing him spy, employed to
track and rob me of what carried,
why should he have made me pres
ent of these rare and precious dia-
monds. Would the bride for which he
used his skill reach anything like the
snm he could obtain be selling the
stones? I was almost sure it would not:
and therefore, having the diamonds
n would have been far more to MS
advantage to keep them than to stun
them into my pocket. simply 70 III
IN the space where the case with the
.treat y. had been. There would not .'avc
heen time vet for the real diamonds 70
have been copied In Amsterdam there-
fore It would be useless to build up
a theory that the stones given me
might be false.
Resides, I reminded myself. 1f the
man were a spy, whose business was
10 watch and be near me, WHY hadn
he waited to see what ] would dos
where / would go, instead Of taxing
commandment, carefully reserving q,
ana trusting to such an unlikely chance
M that I might force myself into 1t!
EVEN IL, after all the three men han
heen in some obscure way playing
into each others' hands could not
see see, how their game had been ar
ranged to catch me.
Maxine and had talked for 1ollS
time. but not two hours had passeu
Vet since i saw the last Of the ul1le
rat OF a man In the railway statlol,
Though II could not understand any
reason for his trickiag me, still tola
,,,,wsaIf that nobody else could nave