Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-07-27

els OF India, deity keeping the line
OF his interrogations on tho subject
of diamonds The Hlndoo. his entire
personality an eloquent expression of
the Incidence Of tho East. was alike
luxuriant in his narghileh and In rem
iniscences Of tho sacred gems that had
adorned the temples of his faith from
Delhi to Benares. Slowly, dresmily.
mystically, stories came from his lips
Of greed and pety. deeds Of daring
and romance, statecraft and intrigues.
until Britt became go Interested that
for a time even his trained, vigilant
mind lost sight OF tho purpose that
had animated all his actions since the
day he learned that the famous Mis-
sioner necklace was missing.
When the Fastener ended his string
Of tales, many OF them replicas in
miniature of the Arabian Nights, and
of still more thrilling Oriental legends,
the Headquarters man had an ex-
/ haustive knowledge Of all the great
diamonds in the history OF Hindostan.
! Your marvellous gems are not
proof against imitation" he said in
Quiringly.
THE lesser of them are not" said
the Swami. Put the Kohinoor, the
Light of Calcutta, the Dawn Of the
World, and similar stones defy the
best efforts of your artificers In them
nature has wrought masterpieces of
glory no human plagiarist can repro
duce."
Not even in Paris?" inquired the
visitor There is good deal of talk
Just now, you know, about the theft OF
a society woman's diamonds. You
know she discovered that paste dia-
monds were substituted. and | under
stand the central jewel was one
of exceptional size"
Neither Paris, nor Venice, nor yet
STEAMBOAT can manufacture colorado
limitations of such stone" insisted
the Swami. limitations, that Is to
say, that would deceive anyone with
the crudest knowledge"
But the Maharanee was undoubted-
ly copied" pursued Britt. IF you have
read the newspapers, you know 1t was
through the discovery OF that fact that
Mrs. Missioner learned her necklace
had been stolen"
All the cordially of the Swami van
ished. He seemed to wrap himself in
the impenetrable dignity Of his caste,
and he dismissed the subject with the
conclusive remark of his race, Il have
spoken" In spite OF the most adroit
AFN 0p !; ss;t fptn
rogations direct and indirect. he could
not be induced to discuss the subject
again.
Britt, somewhat bafled, finally led
the conversation into other channels
by bethinking himself of his role in
time to ask the Swami the purpose
and probable length of his stay in
New York
Il have no objection to telling YOU"
answered the priest, that am here
to spread the propaganda, to turn the
lamp Of the true faith upon the gloom
tinued. Yes, am making prose-
lytes! I am conducting gatherings of
seekers after the Light. and | am in
structing all who come to me with
open minds and honest hearts"
Britt picked up his hat and coat
with reluctant air, and took leave of
the Oriental with not over-profuse ex-
pressions Of gratitude for his recep-
ton. The scholar struck the gong,
the Hindoo servant appeared in the
farther doorway. and in few seconds
the faint echoes of the visitors foot
steps ended in the quiet closing of the
street door,
Kananda, with q carriage akin to
the swagger Of th0 English Guards
man. re-entered the room and looked
at the Swami qui22ically.
You need not put yourself to the
trouble of looking through the Sunday
papers," said the Swami. There will
be nothing about this interview in
The Tines"
MOI returned Kananda. Il heard
the reporter say he wanted the facts
for the next issue OF his Sunday sup
plement,"
"He is not interested in supple
ments." replied the priest, "sequels
are his speciality. When he interests
himself in a story he begins at the
continued line. He is not a report
err"
Tho Prince looked at him inquiring
ly.
Nor is he the man Ali should have
searched" continued the sage. He is
one Of the cleverest detectives IL
New York-Britz. of Headquarters!
Britt, of Headquarters, did no
waste any time in gloating over the
result of his interview with the Brah
min. In the first place, he did not con
slider that he had scored anything
like signal victory. He knew enough
OF the subtleties Of the Orient to be-
aware that such grains of truth a!
had come to him in the Swami's an
swers had been merged into volum
nous fabric of mendacity-wcll cal
II diplomacy-and that to winnow GU
the few facts vouchsafed to him wa!
task for the clustered seclusion o
his own room, supplemented by thu
silent help of many books Of refer
ence. But he was ready to take it TO
granted that the Brahmn had Spoken
truly in regard to the difficulty of i'm
itating diamonds of great size. Their
was no question the Maharanee hat
been copied: how closely he could no
say, as he had unfortunately neve
Iii A.. mi