The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1912-02-02

life belongs TO your royal father to do
with II as he pleases. And since you
tell me that you are the long arm OF
the Maharajah, 1t 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 a 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 It is n question not only Of piety,
but Of politics. There is a dash of
mild statecraft in It. The Maharajah
has pretty well-rooted idea that the
permanence of his reign depends on
restoring the diamond to the Temple. e"
The sage looked at him interroga-
lively.
Funny, / know" continued Mandy
but, after all. 1t is the twentieth
century, and the p. and o. boats take
some pretty restless people to India.
Those busy.bodles have stirred up a
good deal Of discomfort in Our part OF
the world, and my father is an oh.
servant man"
81 had no thought Of giving up the
quest" the Swami explained. "An
| wished to do was to move more de-
liberately. believe we can recover
the stone without great violence. and
incline to these Westerner's views
far enough to think It would he 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 tie
best"
Il know all that" insisted the
Prince, but We have not the time.
THIS hunt is drawing close TO a hot
i'7ish. You forget that We have the
c!eVerest detective in New York--one
OF the cleverest in the world
to beat II he got the diamond, he
would not recognize our claim to It
for an instant. He'd turn It over to
Mrs. Missioner, and we would not
stand tho ghost OF chance In any
court of law. This is a 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 II peering into a
crystal gazer's globe.
'1 am convinced the woman has the
necklace" he went on. "Our men
have had time to search Griswold's s
apartment from end to end. and the
other mems, too. II they found the
Jewels in either place, We would know
1t 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. All
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 tcholar
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 a little as he handed the
paper to the Prince. A hurried read.
ing suniced 10 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
quick" he said, we have not a mo-
ment to losel"
II would have been we'll for Britt II
the young photographer had acquaint.
ed him promptly with the fact OF the
disappearance OF the Millicent note.
The detectives acute intelligence
would have argued from that incident
the need OF even greater haste than he
was making in pushing his pursuit OF
the Missioner diamond to a close. But
Burlen. conscience-stricken though he
was, was loath TO send the information
TO the Headquarters man until he could
have time to make further and more
exhaustive search OF his shop, as we'll
as OF the courtyard in the rear OF the
building on which its windows gave. 1t
was dark in the court, and the imper.
feet light of his candle made his
search so slow that by the time he
was sure the note was gone beyond
possibility of its recovery, It was too
late for him to hnd Detective Brltz at
Police Headquarters. When his mes
senger returned with the report that
the Central once man had left his
room, and that no one In the Mulberry
street building knew where to find him,
Burlen became so alarmed that no
hastened to Headquarters to try to
take up the hunt for Brltz from that
point. He was as unsuccessful as his
emlssary, and he spent many anxious
hours In the waiting room hoping for
the detectiVe's return The DhOto an.