The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-04-17
The Seven Emeralds

The import of the emeralds had cli
dentIY been lost upon him until tnlI
time; but now of a sudden NC reallIsu
that he might be concerned IN inc
business. and his agitation WAS re
newod 3" / wonder what enleralds they
were1D he asked, as VI Of hlmse!t; then
turning TO me, he exclaimed, VII you
come upstairs with me minute
He did not wait for me 10 apsWG.,
but led the way up bare stone steps
TO landing, of which there led two
passages. and in a big and nncom
| Portable bedroom ln showed me three
safes, one a. little one. which be
opened, and took thcrefrom a cas-
I containing seven emeralds oi slIS
and quality apparently similar to 1hc
two I had seen at Pangbourne- But
when .he gave them 10 me. to examine
| saw al once that five of them were
genuine and two were false
1 fWell." said he, after ] had looked
at them long and closely, show do yo"
| like them?'
:'I-likc them enough" said /; ',at
least, like FIVE Of them but l"e
| Al this he cried, "Oh. my God!
md cutched tho stones from me WIN
| the .trcmbting fingers of madnnisan.
When he had seen them tor hlmseLE
my conclusious-he began 10 roar out
oaths ''aud complaints most pItItully,
.cnrsinr his nephew as 7 have never
heard man cursed before or since
| III NV endeayor TO calm hlm, J askeI
l.iow it could possibly be that TINS Ici-
7 low he feared had got access to ms
| safe; : but he poured out only an IN
coherent tale, begging me TO, send tor
| the police. then not ia leave HIM, then
falling TO prophecy, and declaring that
he would be murdered before me
month was out IT was altogether the
| L.
pointing strongly to the conclusion that
| the man was mad; and, in fact, where
his Jewels werc concerned, sanrty was
NOT his strong point.
BY and by he got sufficient reason
10 tell me that he had the adrnnlstra'
ton of some Of his nephew s property
and that in his work he had first fallen
foul of a man, beadstronG.. vlndictive,
by no means honest. and, in some
moods, dangerous Yet, even Knowing
his relative IS character and the threats
he had urged against him, he could
not tell how the safe was broken, or
by what means the emcralds had
gone. He was not even aware that his
nephew was in England, and had
been The first to bring intelligence or
his coming. ! asked him naturally,
| If these two stones represented the
whole of his loss, and at that he tell
of again TO his raving, but took two
|
drawer in the smaller as ] could sec,
and began to pour upon the faded bed.
! cover wealth of treasure which might
have bought Il CITY Here were rubles
of infinite perfection, diamonds set In
a hundred shapes, ropes OF pearls,
boxes of opals, bracelets of every
known pattern, rings scarce to be
numbered aigrettcs, necklaces - IN
short, such stupendons show that the
dark and dingy, bedroom was lighted
with wondrous light, a myriad rays
flashing up from the bed, until the
whole place seemed touched with a
wand, and changed to a chamber of a
thousand colors. Before the bed of
Jewels the old man stood chattering
and moaning; now bathing, as it were,
| in the gems, now letting them ripple
over his hands. or addressing tender
endearments TO them. or clutchiug them
with nervous aviditv, 4. as though he
| feared even my companlonshlp.
In the midst of this strange scene,
and while we were both held spell.
bound by the wondrous vision of
wealth, sudden exclamation drew the
miser from his employment. 1t came
| from The girl who had been sent to
the village, she now standing in the
doorway of the bedroom, and crying,
ter of the gems. But Ladd turned
upon her at the words, and grasped her
by the wrists, crying out as he had
cried when first he knew that he was
robbed
''You hussy," he hisscd. bending her
floor; ''what do you watch me for 7
What do you mean by coming here
Where are the emcralds you have stol-
cnl Tell me, wcnch; do you heart Tell
me. or | shall hurt you,'
He held her in so firm r grasp that
/ feared she would suffocate. and went
to pull him off. at which action he
turned to cry out against me; but the
anger had played upon him so that he
tainted suddenly all across the bed and
amongst the jewels. The girl, whom he
had forced upon the floor, now rose I'M
pudently, and said:
'Dld we ever see the like Of him
but IN make him paw for it, Oh,
YOU needn t look, he's that way often.
He II come to In a minute; but he
won t find me in the house tomorrow
wages or no wages
DO what you like I cried to her,
angrily, Sc but don t chatter Have YOU
got any brandy in tho house?'
Brandy. and for him,' said she, |
arranging her dress, which he had torn |
Is it me that should be running for |
II? Not If ] know it; brandy, | like |
that!n
"Then leave the room. - T exclaimed |
imperatively; and with that She went
oil, banging the door behind her. and |
was alone with the man and his |
levels. | think it was the stranpest
situation ] have ever known. Some |
thousands of pounds worth Of gems
lay scattered upon the cvverIet, upon
the sheets, aud even upon the carpet.
Ladd himself lay like the figure upon
tomb, white and motionloss: there
was, only the light of common paraf-
I'm lamp; aud three parts of the room
lay IN darkness. My first thought was
for the mans life. and rcmemher;no
that ! had a flask in my pocket. /
forced brandy between his clcnched
I,ceth' and laid him fat upon his back,
In Few, moments there was per.
ceptlblc. though very quick bent Of his
Pulse. and after that when he had tax.
en- more of the spirit, he opened his
eyes, and endeavorcd to raise himself:
but forbade him roughly. and gath,
eLlng up his gems ! bundled them in
the greater safe, and turned the kew
L.