The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1912-05-23

last saw him he was a strikingly hand
some specimen of his race-thin and
wiry, upright as a dart, with finely
formed, supple limbs. Now his face
was emaciated, his eyes had the ex-
preston Of suffering that one some
times notices in those of a suffering
dog, his figure was bowed, and at in.
tervals long, shuddering signs escaped
his lips.
you are ill, Gopinath," 1 said
abruptly.
"Sahib, 1 suffer-" he replied. He
pressed his hand to his right side. 81
suffer agony" he said again.
Give me your hand" said. 1 took
it in mine. The pulse was throbbing
wildly, the mans skin also burned;
he was evidently very i'll, and 1 fan
cied he might have fallen victim to
some form of Oriental fever.
when 1 breathe, I suffer torture"
he said, gasping sharply as he spoke.
l motioned him to take a chair, but
instead of doing so he seated himself
OF the floor with his legs doubled up
under him.
Can you relieve me?" he asked,
clasping his hands over his right side,
while big drops of sweat fell from his
forehead.
A sudden thought flashed through
my mind. Gopinath's unaccountable
grief, the complete change in his ap-
pearance, made a wild hope leap with
in me. No suspicion in connection
with the murder had as yet fallen on
the East Indian. Suppose. after all, he
knew more about it than anyone else?
I firmly believed that the person who
stole the diamond was the one who
committed the murder. Suppose that
the temptation to appropriate so val
liable a gem had proved too much for
Gopinath?
Stand up" l said to him suddenly.
You suffer pain here?" l touched his
side lightly.
Much, sahib, much" he replied. I
saw that he could scarcely pull him
self together, his sufferings were so
intense.
II am going to find out what is the
matter" l said. "Stay where you are
for a moment; I will be back directly"
I hurried to my laboratory, for I
felt that the moment had arrived when
l could make a good test Of the Roent-
gen rays. Was it possible that they
might be the means of discovering
crime, and perhaps saving an innocent
life? The Crookes acuum tube was
got into the right position, l saw that
the rays worked we'll. and then I re-
turned to Gopinath and brought him
into the laboratory. l desired him to
strip, and then arranged him in such
a position that the rays would pass
through my body. I turned off the
lights in the room. My electrical bat.
terry worked we'll, the rays playing
admirably in the vacuum tube. l re
moved the cap from the camera, and
after an exposure of from eve tc
ten minutes felt certain that l had
taken a careful photograph.
That will do" l said to the black
man. l led him back to the library.
Il have taken a photograph of you,'
I said to him, (which may show me
the seat of your malady. When ]
have developed it. l will come back to
you"
I returned to my dark room, and
quickly developed the plate. When ]
had finished, and saw what the mystic.
rious X-rays had produced, I uttered
a shout of triumph. The skeleton OF
the wiry Brahmin was distinctly Wis
ible, and just below the region of the
~ileo-caecal valve, a foreign substance
about the size Of the Snakes Eye was
seen. I had not the least doubt that
I was looking at the gold socket of the
cobra's eye, the diamond itself being
probably not impervious to the X.
rays. Men of Gopinath's nationality
had swallowed precious stones before
now. This was not the first time in
the annals of history that the human
body had been made a hiding place
for stolen property.
telephoned at once to Crossthwaita
and a clever colleague of mine, one
DR.. Symes, to come to the house i'm
mediately. They made their appear
ance in a little while, and 1 exhibited
to their astonished eyes the photo
graph 1 had taken, and narrated the
history of the case.
Acute p%eritonitis, of course" said
Symes, after he had examined the
well-marked obstruction revealed in
the picture. II agree with you, Hall
fax, that the Indians only chance for
life is to have that substance, what
ave 1t is, removed at once"
The three Of us proceeded to the Ii
brary, where Gopinath lay fiat on the
floor, moaning piteously. With Symes'
assistance l placed him on a lounge
and bent over him.
Listen to me, Gopinath," I said
"You are very i'll, and this gentleman
indicating DR.. ~Symes-"and 1 have
decided that your only chance for life
is to operate on you and remove the
diamond you have swallowed"
His dark eyes, glowing like Jewels
were fixed on my face. 1t did not
ever occur to him to deny my accuse.
ton.
us there any hope that l may re
cover, sahib?" he asked.
None whatever, unless the diamond
is removed. Now, tell US by what