The Springfield herald., 1912-05-03
Ole NECKLACE OF
GREEN DIAMONDS
By MAX ERTON
(Copyright, BY W. @. Chapman.)

from my eccentric old friend, Francis
Brewer, to make him a necklace of
green diamonds. 1t was the second Of
May In the year 1890. exactly three
days after his marriage with the fas-
cinatlng little singer, Eugenie Clar-
vile, who had set Paris aflame with
the piquancy OF her acting and her de-
lightful command of fifth-rate voice
London to take up the management of
a great banking enterprise In the
French capital. He was then well into
the fortIes: but he had skipped
through life with scarce a jostle
against the venial sins. and was as ig.
norant as a babe where that mortal
septette of vices which the clergy ana
thematize on the first Wednesday In
Lent was concerned.
When he was married he wrote to
me, and laid his letter upon my table
with q whistle. Not that he was in
any way suited for the celibate state
for his instinct was wholly cast in the
marrying mold. Had been called
upon to paint him. l should have sat
him in an armchair by the side OF a
roaring fire. with a glass Of punch to
toast a buxom goodwife, and a pipe
as long as the stick of my umbrella to
make rings of smoke for a new gen.
Grafton at his knee. Such man
should. said common sense. have been
yoked to an English dame. to one used
to the odor of lemon. and motherly by
instinct and by training. I could not
imagine him married to a lady from
the vaudeville; the contrast between
his iron.headed directness and the
gauze and tinsel Of opera bouffe
seemed grotesque almost to incredul.
ity. Yet there was the letter, and
there were his absurd rawlings about a
woman he had known distantly for si1
months, and intimately for three days
II have married." he said in this
memorable communication" dear.
est little soul that God ever brought
into the world-fresh as the breeze
bright as the sky. eyes like the night
and temper like an angel. You must
come and see her. old boy"
There was a good deal more of this
sort of thing; but the kernel of the
letter was in a postscriptum, as was
the essence of most Of his communi.
cations. He told me there that he
desired to make some substantial
present to the girl he had Just mar.
ried; and he inclosed a rough sketch
of a necklace which he thought would
be pretty thing II rare stones were
used to decorate 1t. fell in with his
whim at once; and as 1t chanced that
l had just received from the Jagersfon'
tein mine a parcel Of twenty very fine
greenish diamonds. determined to
use them in the business. l may say
that these stones were of a delicious
the great Jewel in the vaults at Dres-
den, and that their fire was amazing
1 have known a gem of the hue to be
worth nearly a hundred pounds a
carat; and as the lot had averaged
two carats apiece, their worth was
very considerable. had not learnt
what were Brewers instructions in
the matter Of expense: but l wrote to
him by the next post congratulating
him on his marriage and informing
him that 1 would set the green dia-
Aoa
two thousand pounds. He accepted the
offer by cablegram. and on the fol-
lowing day sent a long letter OF In
struction, the pith of which was the
order to engrave on the inner side OF
the pendant the words, major lex
amor est nobis.
When the trinket reached him, his
satisfaction was quite childish. He
wrote of his delight. and Of "Eugy's,
and spoiled three sheets of good note
paper telling me Of her appearance at
the English ball early In June; and of
the sensation such an extraordinary
bauble caused. Then heard from him
no more until August, when read In
an evening paper that he had been
returning from Veluettes after short
holiday, and had been in great train
smash near Rouen. A later telegram
gavs list OF the dead. in which was
the name of his wife; and three days
after l received from him the most
pitiful letter that 1t has ever been my
misfortune to read. The whole wound
ed soul of the man seemed laid bare
upon the paper; the simplicity of his
words was SO touching and so express
sive of his agony. that could scarce
trust myself to go through the long
pages over which he let his sorrow
flow. Yet one paragraph remained
long in my mind. for 1t was one that
recalled the necklace of green dia-
monds, and 1t was SO astonishing that
did not debut that Brewer was, for
the time, at any rate, on the high
road to madness. 81 have put them
round her dear neck" he said, "and
they shall cling always to her in her
long sleep"
At the end OF the month he wrote
again, mentioning that. despite my
sharp remonstrance. he had seen the
Jewels buried with her. and that his
heart was broken. He said that he
thought of coming to stay with me.
and OF retiring from business; but
went on in the next paragraph to con-
fess his inability to leave the city In
which she was buried, and the places
klE F,f