The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1911-11-18

III Had No Thought oi
the Maharajah, it is at your disposal,
too"
His calmness reminded the Prince
OF his own Oriental origin. The We
hemence he had acquired in western
lands slipped from him like loosened
| robe. In an instant, under his out
ward seeming Of an English or Amer
lean man-about-town, he repossessed
the composure of his race.
Sorry" he said with little forced
laugh. Rather bad, you know, to
take things to heart that way, but
| this really Is serious proposition,
and we mustn't fall down on it. AS
we are SO near success, will tell
| you 1t Is a question not only of piety,
| but of politics. There is a dash of
mild staiecraft in it. The Maharajah
has a pretty we1l-rooted idea that the
permanence of his reign depends on
The sage looked at him 1nterroga-
lively.
Funny, / know" continued Mandy,
but, after all, 1t la the twentieth
| century, and the P. and O. boats take
some pretty restless people to India.
Those busy-bodies have stirred up a
good deal of discomfort in our part of
/ the world, and my father is an OBJ
servant man"
| II had no thought of giving up the
quest" the Swami explained. 'All
1 wished to do was to move more de-
liberately. 1 believe we can recover
the stone without great violence, and
| / incline to these Westerner's views
! far enough to think 1t would be better
for our religion, for your father, and
for the brethren-to say nothing of
ourselves-if we could do SO. The
easiest way sometimes really is the
best"
Il know all that" insisted the
Prince, "but we have not the time.
This hunt is drawing close to a hot
finish. You forget that we have the
cleverest detective in New York-one
of the cleverest In the world
to beat. If he got the diamond, he
would not recognize our claim to 1t
for an instant. He'd turn 1t over to
Mrs. Missioner, and we would not
stand the ghost of 6 chance in any
court of law. This Is case where
we must help ourselves to our own.
Besides, there is GrisWold. How do
we know he is not getting ready to
fee with the Jewels tonight? They
may be in his possession, or he may
have given them to the woman who
signs herself Millicent.'
The Prince paused, framed his fin
gers tip to tip, and looked between
them at the note as If peering into a
crystal gazer's globe.
IT am convinced the woman has the
| necklace" he went on. "Our men
/ have had time to search Griswold' s
apartment from end to end, and the
| other mems, too. If they found the
jewels in either place, we would know
/ it by now. The whole question pre-
/ sents itself clearly enough to my
mind. The old French proverb holds
good, cherchez la femme"
The Swami arose. AS he did SO, Ali
4 re-entered the room with more
salaams, and extended toward his
master silver tray on which lay a
/ tiny scroll, written in minute hero
glyphs of the Orient. The scholar
broke the seal and scanned the paper
swiftly. A slight exclamation be-
trayed that the information contained
in the little scroll broke through even
his magnificent reserve. His hand
trembled little as he handed the
paper to the Prince. A hurried read
ing suficed to destroy all OF that
Young mans recently gained calm. He
fairly hurled himself into a sealskin
coat. and thrust his head into an
opera hat.
| "cuick!" he said, we have not a mo.
ment to lose!"
It would have been well for Britt II
the young photographer had acquaint-
ed him promptly with the fact of the
disappearance of the Mfllfcent note.
The detectives acute intelligence
| would have argued from that incident