The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-08-07
The Diamonds of the Dead
BY Louis Frederic .Sdupdgs

"A quadruple row Of pearls of tines.
Unable value, twenty diamonds, EN-.
eralds and rubies, . diadem. bracelets
and . quantity Of other jewelry. all
the treasures of the Golconda in .
place where we may get them as easy
- can scratch my head. Do you un.
dsrstand William Shall both be veal
thy without shedding q drop Of
blood?"
Perkins. otherwise the most phlg-
matte OF men. grew enthusiastic.
And what are We to dot" asked.
Jump . cemetery wall. break into
. chapel. and open tomb"
He lowered his voice. I made q
sign to him to say no more. I under
stood. Some noble lady had died and
had been buried wearing all her jew
elry. Two resolute men to visit her.
The rest was child's play.
And who was this original. II !
may ask"
He looked at me sharply. I was
then destined to always be discreet.
A gentleman may steal without troub-
ling his head about the name OF the
victim.
The waitress Of the miserable den
where We were sitting kept nosing
about a. II eager to catch our words.
Perkins threw half . crown to her.
He always had the manners of q grand
seigneur. His naughty air and silk
hat lent him . certain dignity. To
have fallen % deep! We had met in
one Of the dirty saloons Of the quarter
and since then had been working to-
gether. Mostly burglaries, occasion
ally murder. But knew nothing
about his past life. as he knew nothing
about mine.
I'VE must act quickly" Perkins
whispered.
This was Just my notion. and We set
the Job for the Same night. Like all
other modern cemeteries this one was
situated outside the city. The over
seer was asleep In his cottage when
We arrived. and We gave his watch
dog no chance to get at US. It had
hardly got hold of the piece Of meat
We threw to Il. when It was caught In
. lasso and tied SO that 1t could not
move and scarcely breath. had O.
little experience in this kind Of work
20 easily opened the door of the chap.
81. There was . winding staircase
leading to the vault behind the altar,
and We descended this.
Perkins showed the way with IN
electric pocket lamp. started to
open the lid. The thing was easy
and I wished might always md my
work % smooth a. burgling the dead.
I was about to finish when I mol
ticed tho light was pickering. I look
cd at my pal and Immediately saw he
was In trouble. His face was ghastly
pale. and his blue and he seemed about
10 faint.
what Is the matter with youy' II
asked.
He only shook his head. He tried
In vain to night down his emotion. |
His trembling hands betrayed his ter
or. A nervous burglar. What Q nuis. |
ance.
lifted on the lid carefully and d
vault. The embalmers had done
resting In satin bed, grave. majestic
and strangely beautiful. and surely |
Perkins had made no mistake. She
wore more gems than heather idol or |
Catholic statue Of . saint have ever /
seen-pearls, diamonds. rubies and
emeralds-and was about to begin to |
pick them when an arm touched my /
sleeve.
Leave those Jewels alone" said
Perkins. His fingers dug into my
arm and his face was now quite green |
'sh with terror.
''It 10 Lady Duncan" he whispered.
you must not touch her!"
What did I care for Lady Duncan?
= And was It not himself who told me
burglar must not bother with the |
names of his victims? He insisted. |
however, and tried to tell mo why. |
Lady Duncan had been the most beau. |
tiful girl in the kingdom. and at
time when he was still rich and had
an income Of many thousands . year
he had loved her with all his heart. |
The great fortune had slipped away |
between his iingres. and though she
had Nirted and made him miserable |
for years she shook him entirely when |
he was ony q poor devil and had mar
ried an old lord.
~ thought hated her." he said. |
and that would get revenge on
her dead body for what she had made |
me suffer. and begin life anew with
the money her jewelry would bring.
but see now cannot do 1t. At the
sight Of her face my hatred disap- |
pears, my courage leaves me and my
knees tremble."
suddenly he pressed the button OF
his lamp and the vault was Hooded
with light.
"What are you doing?" he asked. i