The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-05-01
The Empires Dream
Amazing Adventures of a Gang of Thieves
Who Stole a World-Famous Dia-
mond of Fabulous Wealth.

Of the robbers OF the Empires
Dream sir; capture OF the remain
der Of the gang expected any moment,
sir-want a paper, sir"
Winton stared at the boy, open
mouthed, with terror: he could not for
the moment grasp the situation. but
had some vague idea hat he himself
was being arrested.
'Confound you. What do you want
to bawl into my ear like that for?"
Paper, sir-speshulo"
Winton took the proffered paper
and crushed it into his pocket. Then,
| tossing a shilling on to the counter to
pay for the broken glass. he left the
house, and as the newsboy watched
him 20 down the street he confiden-
TALLY remarked to a companion that
that bloke as got the Jumps
And as Winton furtively lodged be-
| hind carts and dismantled market
| stalls in a well-meant endeayor to
escape observation, there was a con
siderable amount of truth in the boys
remark. The news which he had re
| ceived with such startling sudden
ness had completely unnerved him.
He walked along like a man suffering
circulating agony, and tortured his
mind with conjectures. What had
happened? Who had been arrested?
How much was known?
Striking out of the town he went
up the steep hill: then. throwing all
caution to the winds. he walked
quickly along the Mansfield road in
the direction Of Daybrook. Upon near.
| ing the village he climbed over a gate,
and skirting the hedges he crossed
two fields until he came to a lane, and
a few hundred yards away stood a
lonely cottage.
AT last-at last! Here I can find
there is nobody within. hope the
| old dame has laid the fire"
He cautiously approached the cot
tage and listened. Not a sound. Then,
producing a key, he opened the door
| and entered. The damp smell of an
| unused room struck his nostrils. and
| then he heard the currying Of a rat
across the floor. Striking a match, he
| CROPPED in a cupboard and found a
| candle that spluttered for a few min.
| utes and then shed a ghostly light in
the room.
Going to the window he drew a
| heavy curtain across the already.
closed shutters and then looked
| around him. The dust lay thickly ev.
erywhere: spiders had spun their
! gauzy homes in heavy clusters from
wall to rafters; and on the ember'
| strewn hearth was a litter Of charred
| papers.
Twelve months since l was here,
and | burnt those papers before I left.
AS no one appears to have been here
since, my old caretaker must be dead
Well. so much the better"
Drawing a candle toward him, he
produced the newspaper and turned IT
over eagerly. He soon found what he
wanted.
I'VE understand that a man named
Hammond was arrested in Leeds two
days ago for completely in the robbery
of the famous diamond, the Empires
Dream The arrest has been kept a
secret until now, as it is expected
| that this capture will lead to the APP.
prehension of a clever and dangerous
gang"
AS Winton read this paragraph the
sweat Of terror stood out upon his
brow. and he looked around him ner
vously. Going, to the cupboard he
found half a bottle of whisky, from
which he filled a teacup. After gulp
ing down the fiery spirit he turned
again to the paper.
THE fool-the fool! How did he
allow himself to be taken? Can he
be trusted to keep his mouth shut
He is just the kind of man to save his
own skin by duplicating others
With a gesture Of Impotence he
turned to the paper again. and anoth
er paragraph caught his eye:
I'VE regret to announce that Lord
Loremuir passed away this afternoon
after q short illness. For some years
past the deceased nobleman has been
somewhat of q recluse, passing his
time in retirement and devoting his
wealth to the purchase OF famous Jew
els, Of which he was passionately
fond. The deceased having no male
issue. we understand that the title
passes to a nephew, Mr.. Montagu
Winton."
And then. in the stop-press column
another paragraph:
AS we go to press an extraordinary
rumor reaches us that the man Ham
mond, who was arrested in Leeds fol
completely in the robbery of the EN-
pire's Dream has made a statement
in which he duplicates Mr.. Montagc
Winton, the new Lord Loremuir."
And SO it had come. He had expect
ed the worst, and it had happened. II
was evident that Hammond, in ar en-
deavor to save himself. had made
full confession, and if Kate Dauncey
had informed him of Winton's where
abouts 1t was quite possible that the
police were looking for him in Not
tingham at the very moment.
He looked nervously around him
and then sat buried in silent thought
The suffering candle burnt ftfully