The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-04-22
DIAMOND CUT
DIAMOND
BY LEONARD MALLOY
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.
By LEONARD MALLOY

land he told me 10 ask you the mex
time i saw you 10 tell me the romano,
OF your marriage"
ooh, he did. did hep replied the In
spector. scowling. but I'm spite OF him
self pickering up the corners Of hi'
mouth in smile.
ayes. He said there was quite |,
story connected with your courtship."
"Courtship be hanged"
"Oh. go on"
Brown offered the inspector cigar
telling him TO light up. The bride was
accepted and the story given.
you know that tradesmen abroad
are interested in learning ways by
which their customers may evade pay
ing duties on goods. because IL the
goods can be got in free of duty it's
very much easier for the tradesmen to
sell them. Some of these people know
mole ingenious tricks for evading du'
ties than the regular smugglers.
"Well, one day the boss called me
into his private Office and. taking up a
letter a friend of his had received,
read it to me. 1t was an offer of n
jeweler in London TO deliver goods in
America free of duty.
"'How do you suppose it's doneT
he asked me.
az don't know replied.
al tell you what you do. Go over
there, get in with the jeweler and find
out I'll get you letter of introduc-
tfon from HE oorracnondant CO tbot
he'll feel obliged to show you some at
tention-perhaps invite you to his
house. You can't find out anything in
bis shop. but you may run across
something at home that will give away
the trick
THE result was that 1 took the next
outgoing liner and within week was
In London. We had a good many
trunks In storage held for some reason
or other that had been all over Eu-
rope and were covered with hotel la
bells. l had taken Off dozen of these
labels and pasted them on my own
trunk. did this because I intended TO
appear as having been travelling on the
continent. l delivered my letter to the
jeweler, an elderly man named Hicks.
He received me very kindly and. as it
was stated In the letter that | wished
to bring home with me some jewels
for my sister. offered to show me his
stock Mt once. To this / replied that
was In no hurry and / would like to
see something of London before my re-
turn. AS l expected. he offered to
show me around.
HE took me to theaters, the Tower.
the abbey and all that. but didn't see
the inside Of his home. Then | began
to ask him about his famiiy-we had
got pretty thick by this time-and he
asked me to dine with him and his
family. met in this way his niece,
who lived with him, and it wasn't long
after that when dispensed with the
services of the jeweler for a guide and
took the niece. l was getting to that
age when man feels flattered by
young woman's attentions, and the
first thing that knew ! was dead set
on taking her back with me to Amer
lea. English girls, you know, have q
very pleasant accent, and many Of
them can show the finest compilations
in the world. Emily Robinson was one
or that kind, and her kittenish WAYS
were just the thing to catch an old
bachelor like myself. She was glad
enough to get husband who would
make her independent, and before I
left London we were not only engaged.
but married.
"Of course | felt guilty at trying to
find out how her uncle got goods free
of duty into America, but anyway |
could only stop his doing it. I could
not punish him, he being an English. !
man and in London. So I added matri. |
mony with his niece to q detective
ruse with him. We were married n !
Few days before the steamer sailed. |
and I bought about the same time
10000 worth Of diamonds, which nv
uncle-in-law agreed to deliver in New
York free Of duty.
Il took my wife with me to my no
tel. and the loneliness of the place was
dispelled ut once. She was very prac.
teal and insisted on packing my trunk
l always hated that part of travelling |
and was glad enough to turn the mat !
ter over to her. We dined the day |
before sailing with her uncle and aunt !
and had very jolly time When we
reached home my wife put my good |
clothes on the top of the other things |
already packed In my trunk and lock- |
ed 1t. Then she began to look Mt the
labels and said how she wished we
had met before my tour instead of
after 1t. as she would like to visit
those places herself. I kissed her and |
promised her trip just as soon as I
could arrange to be again absent from
business.
when we reached home l told the
boss that some diamonds were TO
come to us and we would have no
trouble tracing how they reached US
My wife said the day after we goi
tome that she didn't feel well and
must ask me to unpack my trunk.
did SO and Mt the bottom found a box
i didn't recognize. l opened It and
was astonished to see the diamonds
sold by my British uncle-in-law. They
had been put there by my wife.
II looked at her.
"She burst out laughing.
"fou wouldn't wish me to 90 back
l.. n |