Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1915-10-28
,o,vsr and nres. lie would do double

Z
murder and win an earldom and the
diamond from the sky. II lie can escape
without detection But Tie quick arm
ii Arthur throws up the pistol and as
Blair fires he wrenches the weapon
from him To avoid the shame and
scandal, even OF the Inference Of the
Ilse speaking Blair the frenzied Ar
dur drags him down the pathway and
DOWN the silent village street, as the
.ocks are growing. presagiug the com
lng OF the dawn. Painting and strug-
Cling. the cousins stumble OH the VII
age highway and into the little village
gray eyArd. Their feet sink into
MOUND of SOFT earth by an open and
newly dug grave. Standing painting
nd facing each other with rage and
hate IN their hearts and on their faces,
lie young men pause moment In their
mad struggle. Then Arthur brings out
his own pistol aud the long white silk
handkerchief that prutrudes from his
breast pocket.
For what you have said about
Esther, either you or must die"
Arthur says. Take one end of this
handkerchief and stand across this
open grave. Hold the handkerchief in
your left hand. as 1 hold this corner OF
-. Now take your pistol. and when
cunt TO Three. raise and 1re. and the
Jue OF US left alive Will pull the dead
nam into the grave
Arthur counts one when the now
fearful murderer essays 10 nre. But
the watchtul Arthur is too quick for
Aim. His pistol speaks first. and. In
,tinctiyely Juggling the handkerchief
: lie urcs. Arthur drags the bleeding
Blair into the grave. prone Oh his face
Arthur leaps into tile grave after his
fallen Zoe aud tears open his shirt to
see II the heart still beats. and there.
III the breast OF Blair stanley. CLEANS
in The moon rays the eva glitter Of tile
diamond from the sky.
Arthur Stanley had known its every
aspect. for the Stanley archives are
full OF ii, in print and manuscript. pic
turcd ana described. SO there II has
been. III the keeping OF my cOusin." he
mutters. ana hardly realizing what he
does except the baleful gem Is his by
every right. he tears 1t from the neck
Of the figure in the grave and chambers
out aud stumbles on his way
Beside cross. white uul majestic
Ill the moonlight. he halts. The moon
shines ON the diamond IN his bloody
hands us he stands by the grave where
lies. rs he believes. his saluted mother
Then. feeling the brand OF Cain Is on
his brow, Arthur Stanley 2d stumbles
on. still clutching the diamond from
the sky IN his bloody hands
In the new dug grave Blair Stanley
moaned and stirred. The wound IN
his forehead had been glancing one,
only sufficient 10 stun him. and now
As lie came 10 consciousness In the
ciammy depths of the grave his FIRST
Impulse was to clutch wildly at his
blood stained and disheveled shirt
bosom
The diamond from the sky was gone,
The death OF the good old doctor had
been all in vain. And Blair Stanley
also fed beneath the moon. boOtless
and In truth blood guilty.
Al Stanley hall Arthur gained access
to the library and shuddered again AZ
he saw the stains on his hands and on
the great Jewel that seemed TO CLEAN
all the brighter for them In the glare
Of the library lamp.
1t was not 10 show the diamond
from the sky that all men yearned
Tor; 1t was to have II, to possess IT,
even In secret, that caused them to lie.
to swindle and even to grope through
blood for It.
Well had the late Colonel Stanle,
known the baleful history of the din.
mona thht had fallen to the feet OF his
adventurer ancestor in meteor. The
stanley charm against harm" 1t was
called ana now look what harm II had
already done. Arraying brother against
brother, father against son. In the past.
II had broken women's hearts the
while, and now a false heir held II
against breast that ached iu nnguish
Arthur felt instinctively that the dia
mond from the sky was responsible
Tor Blair's impugning the good name
OF sweet Esther good old DR.. Lees
fair ward, but Arthur did not know
that the good doctor lay cold In death
at the hands Of Blair Stanley.
The wild thought. the wilder hone.
that he might 20 elsewhere and under
new name. still holding to the dla
mond from the sky. rehabilitate him.
self and then seek out Esther I'm se
cret and wed her now possessed Ar
thur
Among Arthur's many extravagances
which the lax administration of estates
In Virginia permitted scapegrace
heir was the buying OF costly French
automobile. 1t was day when auto
mobiles were rarties and luxuries and
the young spendthrift of Stanley hall
had preened himself with the thought
that he would be the first to own an
automobile In all Fairfax county.
Arthur reasoned that Blair. who he
supposed was lying dead In the grave
that had been digged for another. would