The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-23

Out more Ike a QcIcnScicSS person WIG
has been whipped once and fears he
may be whipped again.
"Ah, Mr.. Scoville, glad to see you
sir. Have cigar said Rawson affa-
bly,
Don't let US waste any time on triv.
ialities, Mr.. ,Rawson," returned the
banker, his voice thickly hoarse- Let:
get down to business at once. ! must
have an understanding with you, sir
What is the precise meaning of this-er
demonstration
Il think you are quite as capable Of
forming definite conclusion as to that
as am"
That may be, sir, but l nevertheless
think | am entitled to some sort of an
explanation, and | mean to have il.
said Scoville. some of his hectoring as
surance returning. He probably mistook
Rawson's deferential politeness for
weakness.
"Oh, very well, Mr. Scoville," said
Rawson. Perhaps you are entitled to
an explanation, and since you demand
it much as Achilles might have demand
ed one of worm that had ventured to
interfere with his plans, I'll give Il b
you plain and unadorned. It's simply
this: Last June Mrs. Scoville and her
daughter, after a winter on the Riviera,
went to Paris. On the 18th of June
Mrs. Scoville purchased twelve unusual
products of Kimberley from Messrs.
Labor, Lazare & Co, OF the Rue de Ia
Paix. The sum paid for those unset
stones was 10000 francs, or $4,000.
After the purchase the diamonds were
sent by special messenger by Labor.
LaZare & Co. to their Bond street
agents in London, Messrs. Plummer &
! Mathews, and on the 2oth OF June were
I delivered by them TO Mrs. Scoville her
self in her apartment at ClaridgeS.
| From that moment the agents OF the
United States government lost sight Of
them. Mrs. Scoville. after a short stay
in London. returned TO America on the
Mauritania. arriving in New York
about four weeks ago. Upon her ar
rival in port she failed to declare the
diamonds and a completely thorough
search of her trunks failed to reveal
their presence. Ii was intimated to her
as delicately as possible by the insptc-
tors that she had possibly overlooked
something of value in making her dec
laration. and her response was : great
show OF indignant surprise that her
word should be questioned. If ! am
not misinformed, she notified the inSpec-
tor. with more force than pOliteness. that
some OF his SuperiOrS were intimate
friends OF yours. and that you would at
tend TO his case pretty damned quick:
and. if my memory is not again at faalt,
the Inspector gave you permission to 60
as far as you bally-well pleased. And you
went no farther. Mr.. Scoville. Why"
why I-well-l-er-'s tammered
Scoville.
Never mind" said Rawson, with
grim smile. Il know the answer, but
Mr.. Scoville. from that day to this you
and your family have been marked. Il
became a point OF honor with the de-
partment to find out what became OF
those diamonds. You had them; ladies
don't buy that sort OF thing just to file
them away in a Safe-depOSIt vault in
London. So. sir: well. | happen to be
interested in criminoIogy. as YOU are
aware and when | heard of the case il
appealed to me strongly. and came
here merely to look quietly on and &c
deduce what l might from what l saw.
Suddenly the solution of the whole
thing came. Your daughter is fond Of
knitting golf vests and American WOO,
not being quite up to par, she i'm
ports
Leave my daughter out of this thing
Rawson.' said Scoville sharply. She
doesn't know anything about it"
Il am sure of that said Rawson
but the point is she had to import
Scotch furze yarn to make golf vests
for her father and her friends. Well
that might have been all right. and Their
again it mightn't. Anyhow, the minute
| learned the fact l wired Boston and
New York custom-houses IN cipher to
watch out for the box. They watched
and you know the rest as well as l do"
We'll" said Scoville. Go on"
There's nothing more said Rawson-
That is, nothing more for me at this
point It's your move now. The next
step is entirely up to you, Mr.. Scoville
On what that step is will depend the
alternative | shall choose between two
courses of action"
And what are those two courses OF
action"
Both very simple. Mr.. Scoville," said
Rawson. The first will be to return to
New York tomorrow morning with
your check for the amount of the duty
plus a 5000 fine, the whole coming
to $4,000. Saturdays Income, let US say
or, second. if the draft is not forth
coming l shall be compelled to ask Mrs.
Scoville and your daughter to return
with me"
Under arrest" cried Scoville
mot necessarily" said Rawson. I'm
der government escort. Mr.. Scoville.
fancy you would prefer that the ladies
should go voluntarily than under COM
pulsion. You don't want an arrest, do
you?"
NO, damn you, l don't" said SEQ
vile. rising angrily and stalking to the
door I'll be back here in FIVE min
utes with a draft"
With that he stamped out of the
room.
And l never got my golf vest. for the
next morning as Rawson and left the
Algonac dining-room on our way tc
catch the train to New York we almost
ran into Scoville and his daughter on
their way in to breakfast, and they
passed US by as coldly as though we
has never met before. although really
thought that Marian's eye twitched a
bit as she passed. along as if it would
have liked to send me a message OF
some kind or other, but didn't dare. As