The Springfield herald., 1912-04-26

would go and see her husband on the
following evening at nine o'clock. and
counseled her to persuade him In the
between time to be frank with me,
since frankness alone could avail him.
She accepted my advice with graft
tude. and left as she had come, her
pretty face made handsomer by its
look of gloom and pensiveness. Then
l fell to thinking upon the wisdom, or
want of wisdom, in the promise l had
| given. Stories of men drugged, or
robbed, or murdered by jewel thieves
crowded upon my mind. but always
with the recollection that l should
carry nothing to Boscobel place. A
a well-worn suit of clothes and q
Swiss lever watch In silver case,
such as l carry invariably. would
scarce be quarry for the most ven
turesome shop-hawk that the history
of knavery has made known to US. 1
could risk nothing by going to the
house, was sure; but l might get the
| opal, and for that l longed still with
a fever for possession which could
only be accounted for by the beauty
of the gem.
Being come to this determination,
| left my own house in a hanson cab
on the following evening at half-past
| eight o'clock, taking Abel with me.
more after my usual custom than
| from any prophetic alarm. / had
money upon me sufficient only for the
payment Of the cab; and l took the
extreme precaution of putting aside
the diamond ring that I had been
wearing during the day. AS l live in
| Bayswater, 1t was but a short drive
| across Paddington green and down
| the Marylebone road to Boscobel
place; and when we reached the house
we found 1t lighted up on the drawing
room floor as Abel had seen 1t at his
| first going there. But the hall was
quite in darkness, and l had to ring
twice before the shrill-voiced dame
had heard Of answered to my knock.
She carried frowsy candle In her
hand: and was SO uncanny looking
that l motioned to Abel to keep a
watch from the outside upon the
house before / went upstairs to that
which was a typical lodging house
room. There was tapestry" sofa
| against one wall; half a dozen chairs
In evident decline stood in hilarious
attitudes; some seaweed. protected
for no obvious reason by shades of
| glass, decorated the mantelpiece, and
a sampler displayed the obviously ag-
gravating advice to tenant of such
a place, Waste not. want not" But
the rickety writing table was strewn
| Nd ho1P
cigar lying upon the edge OF 1t, and a
| cup of coffee there had grown cold In
the dish.
The aspect OF the place amazed me-
1 began to regret that / had set out
upon any such enterprise, but had no
time to draw back before the Russian
| entered. He wore an outat-elbow
velvet coat, and the rest Of his dress
was shabby enough to suit his sur
roundings. l noticed, however, that
he offered me a seat with a gesture
that was superb, and that his manner
was less agitated than 1t had been
at our first meeting.
| Il am glad to see you" he said. you
have come to buy the opal?"
"Under certain conditions, yes"
| THAT Is very good of you; but am
offering you a great bargain. My price
for the stone now is 93,000 one thou
sand less than my wife offered it at
yesterday"
"It has lost more of its color, them"
Decidedly; or should not have
lowered my claim-but see for your
SELF"
| He took the stone from the wash
leather bag, and laid 1t upon the writ
ing table. l started with amazement
and sorrow at the sight Of 1t. The
glorious lights had admired not 20
days ago were half gone; dull, salty
red tinge was creeping over the su-
perb green and the scintillating black
which had made me covet the jewel
with such longing. Yet it remained,
even in its comparative poverty, the
most remarkable gem have ever put
hand upon.
"The stone Is certainly going of"
said in answer to him. What guar
antee have that it will not be worth
less in months timer"
"You have my word. 1t is tradi-
ton Of our family that he who owns
that heirloom when it begins to fade
| must sell II or dle-anQ sell It at It's
worth. II 1 continue to possess it, the
tradition must prove itself, for shall
die of sheer starvation"
"And IL another has it?"
at will regain its lights, have no
doubt Of it. for it has gone like this
before when death has happened
amongst us. II you are content to
take my word, will return to you in
six months time and make good any
loss you have suffered by it. But
should want some money now, to-
night, before an hour-could you let
me have it?"
'If I bought your stone, you could
have the money for IT.; my man. who
is outside. would fetch my check
book"
At the word man." he went to the
window, and saw Abel standing be-
meath the gas lamp. He looked fixed
ly at the fellow for moment, and
then drew down the blinds in de-
liberate way which I did not like at
ALL
THAT servant of yours has been set