Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-15
CHAPTER VII.
Ivor Is Late for an Appointment.

| 1 was glad to be alone, for l had said,
! l wanted to think quietly.
! Maxine had taken the diamonds. but she
| had slipped the necklace into the bosom OF
| her dress. pressing 1t down through the
| rather low-cut opening at the throat. and
| had therefore left the leather case. /
picked the thing up from the table where
| she had thrown it and examined it care
, fully 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. 1 judged that the diamonds had
| not been in 1t when the duchess intrusted
| them TO du Laurier. He would almost GER
! tainy 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 description.
| she must have betrayed some emotion
| under the keen eyes of the commissary of
/ police.
| The case which, it seemed 1 had brought
! to Paris. looked as if 1t might have been
made to hold a peculiar KIND of cigar.
| much larger than the ordinary sort. With
| in. either side, was a partition, and
| there was a silver clasp which the hall
| mark was English.
English silver" 1 said to myself,
thoughtfully The three men who had
travelled in the carriage with me from Lon
don to Dover were all English OF the trio
only the nervous little fellow who had re-
served the compartment for himself had
found the smallest possible opportunity to
steal the treaty from me and exchange for
it this red leather case containing a da-
mond necklace worth twenty thousand
pounds If he possessed the skill and
quick daftness of a conjuror a mar
velouSly clever professional pickpocket. as
we'll as the incentive of paid spy. he
niSykt cpncaiya bIv have he Ri at
the moment of alarm on the boats gang
way. not afterward. for when he had
pressed near me in the Care du Nord he
had been on the wrong side. But for my
life l could not guess the motive for such
an exchange.
Surprising him spy, employed to track
and rob me of what / carried why should
he have made me present o. these rare
and precious diamonds? Would the bride
for which he used his skill reach anything
like the sum he could obtain by selling the
stones? / was almost sure ii would not:
and therefore. having the diamonds. it
would have been far more to his advantage
to keep them than to stuff them into my
pocket. simply to fill up the space where
the case with the treaty had been. There
would not have been time yet for the real
diamonds to have been copied in Amster-
tam, therefore 1t would be useless to build
up a theory that the stones given me might
be false.
Besides. 1 reminded myself if the man
were spy, whose business was to watch
and be near me, why hadn't he waited to
see what l would do, where | would CO.
instead of taking compartment. carefully
reserving 1t. and trusting to such an I'M
likely chance as that might force myself
into it? Even if, after all, the three men
had been in some obscure way playing into
each others hands. ] could not how
their game had been arranged to catch me.
Maxine and l had talked for long time
but not two hours had passed yet since 1
saw the last of the little rat o: man in
the railway station. Though | could not
understand any reason for his trucking me.
still. l told myself that nobody else could
have done 1t. and L decided to go back at
once to the Care du Nord. There I might
still be able to find some trace of the little
man and Of my two other fellow travellers.
If through a porter or cabman | could learn
where they had gone. I might have a
chance even now of getting back the stolen
treaty. | had brought with me from Lon
don a loaded revolver. warned by the for
eign secretary that to do would be a
wise precaution. and L was ready to make
of it, if necessary.
l was beginning to be very hungry but
that was a detail of no Importance, for
had no time to waste in eating. | went to
the railway station and looked about until