The Springfield herald., 1912-06-07

Copyright. by
The, man stood upon the weir-bridge
watching me, conspicuous man with
strange clothes for riverwork upon
him, and haunting activity which
drove him from the lock to the inn,
and again from the inn to the lock
with a crazy restlassness which was
maddening. had been for some
hours whipping the miil-stream, which
lies over against the lockhouse at
Pangbourne; but meeting with no sue
cess amongst the club. which on this
particular July evening were aggrava-
tingly Indifferent even to the succulent
frog, | had punted to the bushes In
the open river; and there lit my pipe
and fell TO speculation upon him who
favored me with SO close an atten-
tion. / have said that he was con-
spicuous man. and to this l owed 1t
that I had seen him. He wore the
straw hat of Jesus college. Cambridge.
and a velvet coat which shone brown
and greasy in the falling sunlight;
but his legs were encased in salmon
pink riding breeches. and he had
brown boots reaching to his knees.
i sat there. in turn wondering If he
were honest or rogue. an adventurer
or an idler, a river-man or a fop from
Piccadilly. And as the problem was
beyond me, left 1t at last ;and taking
up my punt-pole gave three or four
vigorous thrusts which sent me I'M
mediately to the landing-stage of the
Swan Inn. and thence to my room.
could hear by no means in
harmonious music floating out over
the water from a girls guitar; there
were several launches waiting for the
lock-gates; and l recall well the face
of a very remarkable woman, who
presently came to the landing-stage in
a gig, the cushions of which were
of an aggressive yellow. but one which
hair and ivory-white skin. Quite apart.
however. from her indisputable beauty.
i had reason to watch this conspicuous
oarswoman, for no sooner had she
come to the landing-stage than the
man in the velvet coat went to her
assistance, and taking number OF
bags and baskets from the boat, ac-
companied her up the village high
street, and so carried her from my
view.
Here then, thought I. is the end of
my mystery. The man had been wait.
ing for the return of his wife, when I.
with preposterous conceit, plumed my
self that he had been looking to speak
with me.
One dimes up river. as most people
know, in semi-public state. Loafers.
loiterers, fruit-sellers, boatmen-all
these congregate near the open win.
dow. and discuss verbally the dishes
which the diner discusses more sub.
stantially. Custom so stales us that
this publicity in no way interferes
with our pleasure. l forgot the RI
diculous romance of the velvet-coated
man. and even his existence. until of
a sudden he presented himself. no
longer watching me upon the bridge,
but standing at the easement, and ask
ing to be admitted.
I'm most horribly sorry" said he,
''to intrude upon you at your dinner,
but my train leaves for town in ten
minutes, and l particularly want your
opinion upon something which they
tell me you know more about than any
man in England"
"By all MEANS" said l. "But your
estimate of my opinion is hopelessly
fiattering; 1t concerns jewels, l sup
poser"
Exactly" said he; and I shall be
under very large obligations to you
II you will tell me whether two en-
eralds l have in my pocket are of
any value, and If so. where would be
the best place to dispose of them?'
lFe took a little paper box from his
coat. and laid it near to my plate l
saw that it was a box which had con-
tanned tabloids of nitroglycerine Ga
drug prescribed for disease Of the
hearD; and that it had been sold by
a chemist of the name of Benjamin
Vain, whose shop was in the High
street at Reading. These things l OBJ
served with my intuitive habit of
srasping detail, learnt in long conten-
.tsnn with rogues; and then forgot
them as the man opened screw Of
tissue paper, and / beheld two of the
finest emeralds have seen during my
career.
you find much the matter with them?"
u should want my glass to see,"
said with caution; the light is fail
ing. and my eyes are not as good as
they were"
You mean magnifying glass,
suppose?" said he. producing lens
from his pocket. well, l happen to
have one
Why it was l cannot tell you, but
this trifling circumstances | marked
down in my mind as my first sound
cause of suspicion against him.
They are fine stuff said I; "do
you happen to know where they come
from?'
81 believe they come from Salz-
burg" he stammered; "at least l have
heard So"
THAT could not possibly be-" said
I; the worst emeralds we have are
the best product of that mine. l fancy
they are from Venezuela"
"Ah. that's the place" said he, II
remember it now; but I've a wretched
head for geography"