Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-02-10

drawer the drawer sprang shut as YOU
see, and everything was as before-eX-
cept tnat n man more had tasted
death. Now I open ii. The fangs fall
AGAIN; they strike the gauntlet: but for
mat, theS would pierce the hand, but
death no longer follows. BY turning
lhls button. | lock the spring. and the
drawer remains open. The man who
dsNised inns mechanism was So proud
OF III tlat he described it In Il secret
memoir for the entertainment of the
Grand Louis. There is u copy of that
m among the archives OF the
Blbllotheque Rationale: the original is
owned by Crochard. 1t was he who
connected that mentor with this cab
met. who rediscoyered the mechanism.
rewound the spring. n renewed the
poison. No doubt the stroke with the
poisoned fanss. which he used to punish
traitors. was the result of reading that
memoir"
This C~roshar-o whatever his name
ls,-seems to be a 'strordinary Teller"
observed Grady. %relighting his cigar.
He is agreed NJ. Pigot. quietly: "a
most extraordinary man. But even he
is not lnfallible: for. since the memoir
made no mention of the other secret
drawer-the one in which Madame la
Duchesse concealed her love letters
Crochard knew nothing Of it. 1t was
that tact which defeated his combina-
tlons-a pure accident which he could
not forsec. And now, gentlemcnt. it
Shall be my pleasure to diplay before
you some very beautiful %briiliants."
Not until that instant had thought
OF n the drawer contained: l had
been too fascinated by the poisoned
fangs n by the story told so quietly
but so effectively by the French de-
tective; but now I perceived that the
drawer was filled with little rolls of
cotton. which a been pressed into it
quite tightly.
NJ. Pigot removed the first OF these,
unrolled it n spread it out upon the
desk, and instantly we caught the gilt
ter of diamOnds-diamonds so large. so
brilliant, so faultlessly white that /
drew a deep breath of admiration.
Even NJ. Pigot. evidently as he prided
himself upon his ilnperturbability. could
not look upon those gems wholly un-
moved; a slow colour crept into his
cheeks as he gazed down at them, and
he picked up one or two of the larger
ones to admire them more closely. Then
he unfolded roll after roll, stopping
from time to time for a look at the larg-
er brilliants.
These are from the famous necklace
which the Grand Duke inherited from
his grandmother" he said, calling our
attention to q little pile of marvellous
gems in n of the last packets.
"Crochard, of course. removed them
tVI lliSlI SellluSS-luaC WAS lueSlC-
BILE. He could melt down the settings
and sell the gold; but not one of these
brilliants would be marketable in
Europe for many years. Each of them
IS a marked gem. Here in America,
your police regulations are not so COM
would have had difficulty in marketing
this one" and he unfolded the last
packet, and held up to the light a rose
diamond which seemed to me as large
as a walnut, and aglow with lovely
color
the Mazarin diamond in the galerie a.
Apollon at the Louvre" said M. Pigot.
There is always a crowd about hat
case, and a special attendant is in
stalled there to guard it, for it con
tains some articles OF great value. But
is not a diamond at all; it is paste-a
paste fac-simile of which this is the
original. Oh. it is all quite honest" he
added. as Grady snorted derisively.
Some years ago, the director of the
Louvre needed a fund for the pur-
chase of new paintings; needed also to
clean restore the old one. They
decided that 1T was folly to keep 3,OO0,-
900 of francs imprisoned in a single
gem, when their Michael Angeles and
da Vincis Murillos were encrusted
with dirt and fading daily. So they
SOuKUJ d HUIClldScI lOT liz M0ZdTlIl
they found one in the empress of Rus
STA, who had a craze for precious stones,
and who, at her death, left this remark
able collection to her favorite son, who
had inherited her passion. A paste
replica of he Mazarin was placed in
the Loupvre for the crowds t admire,
and every one soon forgot that it was not
really the diamond. Fol myself, I think
the directors acted most wisely. And
now" he added with q gesture toward
the glittering heaps, what shall we do
with all this?"
Grady, awaking suddenly as from a
trance, and that's to get them in a
safe deposit box as quick az possible.
There's DO police safe I'd trust with EN-!
Why. they'd tempt the angel GABRIEL"
and he drew a deep breath.
Can we find a box Of safe deposit
at this hour of the night?" asked NJ.
Pigot. glancing at his watch. TT is
almost l o'clock and a half"
That's Easy in New York." said
Grady. Well take 'em over to the
Day and Night bank on Fifth avenue
1t never closes. Walt till l get some
thing to put EN- In"
He went out and came back presently
with a small valise.
.This will do" he said. "Stow EN-
away. and I'll call up the bank. and
arrange for the box"
~SimmOndS and P1got rolled up n
packets carefully and placed them in
the valise. while 1 sat watching them
in a kind Of daze. And I understood
the temptation which would assail a
man in the presence of so much beauty.
1t was not the value of the Jewels
| which shook and dazzled mel scarcely
| thought Of that: it was their seduc-
tive brilliance. it was the thought that,
IL 1 possessed them. l might take them
out at any hour Of the day or night
ana run my fingers through them and
watch them shimmer and culver in the