The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-10-05
A Royal
Gem
Il Was a Bone of
Contention
By F. A. mitchell

phone from my bed by my chief and
directed to 60 to the house of a Mr..
Ackley. I was to apply at the base
ment door. where would be admit
ted by the gentleman himself.
| found a residence that indicated
its occupant was wealthy. Mr.. Ackley
was waiting for me at the basement
door. He gave me the points in the case.
Not long before, while travelling
abroad, he had purchased a sapphire
which had originally been in the crown
OF Balkan sovereign. Whether it
had been stolen or purchased by the
person. who sold it to Mr.. Ackley he
did not himself know. He was told,
however, that his majesty was in finan-
cial straits and had parted with it for
ready money. At any rate, the king
now desired to regain 1t. He had sent
an agent who had bargained for It,
Offering very low price for 1t, basing
his offer on the theory that it was
stolen property. Ackley preferred not
to sell 1t at any price, but, not being
willing to keep it from its original
owner offered to exchange it for a
/ price equal to what he had paid for
1t, which, though less than its value.
was considerable This, offer was de-
| clined, and the agent withdrew from
further negotiations.
Not long after his withdrawal q
Frenchman named Du Pierrls brought
letter of introduction to Ackley from
a gentleman the latter had met in
Rome, member Of the court Of Victor
Emmanuel. Du Pierris proved so at
tractive to Ackley that he had invited
the Frenchman to visit him in his own
house. Du Pierris had become Ack.
ley's guest, and Ackley had introduced
him to society.
The Balkan sapphire Ackley kept In
his own house In safe where many
OF his valuables were deposited. One
night while lying awake he decided to
60 downstairs for bite and glass of
wine, as he often did when wakeful,
hoping that he might thus regain slum-
ber On such visits to the larder he
usually turned on the electric light in
the hall after leaving his room, but on
this occasion he saw mans silhouette
against the window at the other end of
the hall. The safe was located midway
between Ackley and this window. He
paused and waited and watched. But
he dare not turn on light for fear of
soaring the person away and could see
nothing more of the figure. Presently
he heard family sound that resem-
bled the closing Of a safe door. then
saw the silhouette between him and
the window. The silhouette vanished,
probably entering one Of the rooms on
the hall.
Ackley went back to his room and,
after waiting awhile, stole down into
the hall with an electric lamp, flashed
1t against the safe lock. opened the
door and looked about for his valu-
ables. The sapphire was gone.
Closing the safe as gently as possible.
he returned to his room.
Only members Of the family and
guests slept on the floor In question.
None Of the family would steal any
thing, and the guests, excepting Du
Pierris, were old and long tried friends.
1t suddenly flashed upon the host that
the Frenchman was an agent Of the
former royal owner Of the sapphire and
that he had imposed upon Ackley's
Roman friend and secured the letter of
introduction in order that he might be-
come intimate with him and steal the
gem.
If this theory were correct the next |
move on the part of Du Pierris would
be to get away with the gem, and he
would not likely allow much time to |
elapse before doing so. Ackley decided |
to forestall him, so, putting on a gown !,
and slippers, went downstairs to the |
telephone booth and called up our Of
fee, where he had before applied for
detective service.
Such were the facts given me by Mr..
Ackley, who added that so far as fixing
the theft on Du Pierris was concerned
that was very simple If he were the
thief he would either disappear with
out bidding his host goodby or he
would offer an excuse for departing i'm
mediately. To this assented. asked
Mr. Ackley for description Of the
stone, for l might have to leave him
at any moment to follow Du Pierris.
1t was Of that variety of sapphire call
ed astoria, or star stone, the color be-
Ing reddish violet, with an opalescent
ulster. Mr.. Ackley had scarcely given
me this when we heard step descend
Ing the grand staircase as of some
one treadhg softly. The steps were of
wood and uncarpeted or we would not
have heard 1t. Ackley put his finger
to his lips and, moving noiselessly to
the door of the room, peeped. Then he
turned and by meaning look assured
ne that it was our quarry. But be-
lore any action could be taken Du
Pierris had opened the front door and
passed out. Ackley hurried me to a
and 1 saw a man with a
pointed beard and waxed mustache .
,urrying away, carrying a suit case.
There was no time for another word .
between US. I hurried to the front