Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-03-03

les, honorable, returned the man,
but Day fancied that the impassiyity
of his face was broken by a culver of
surprise.
Did Mr.. Burdick appear to be par
ticularly concerned about any matter?
Was he troubled in mind?"
"He had that appearance" returned
Hatsu cautiously. after long thought.
In what way?" asked Day sharply.
HE talked much to himself. and he
was usually a silent man." said Hatsu
thoughtfully. ''One day. the very day
he passed out into the hands of the
gods, | found him wandering about the
rooms, looking into hole and corner.
and he was muttering Words
What words?"
Il could not make for sure. honor
able" returned the man after another
interval of thought. but it seemed that
he wished to hide something, for he
said over and over that he must con-
ceal it, yet it must be found. Hidden
and found, hidden and found those
were his words.
Il was alarmed at his behavior, and
l ran Il for help. When | returned
he-was stretched on the floor of this
senseless. and it was later in the
day that he died without a word
"And you found nothing in the room
the thing that he might have tried
to conceal?' questioned Day.
Nothing. eXeellency,' returned Hat
su.
Day dismissed him, and later in the
evening when all the servants had re-
tired to their quarters John Day made
an exhaustive search of the house. He
left the library till the last, and it
was long after midnight when he turn
ed into that dimly lighted room.
He looked around.
Where would be conceal a large dia-
mond as big as a hazel nut if he had
been minded to conceal such a gem?
Under the rugs? Within the vases?
In a niche of the carving? Within that
grinning idol?
There were a score of places to
choose from.
He began with the rugs, cropping
carefully over every inch of their sur
LUZ " liz mioSAhS otOlO'
The rugs refused to diyulge the Sc
cret.
Then the innumerable curios. The
grinning idol when shaken gave back
a dust of sandalwood and a smell of
joss sticks. The ivory elephant re-
fused to offer any hiding place.
The Kokuro vase on the mantel-
piece
John Day looked at its graceful out
lines. There was a gray surface traced
with delicate cherry boughs and fly
ing birds. The neck was very small.
He took it down and examined it. The
missing diamond would never have en-
tered that tiny %orifice, yet it must be
somewhere.
Suddenly in the silent house there
came a sound.
John Day eXtinguished the light, re-
placed the vase and stepped behind a
carved screen.
Into the darkened room came a bent
form holding a lighted lantern. The
glow of the light showed the tense
features of-Hatsu, the house boy.
He looked furtively around, and
then his feet led him swiftly to the
mantelpiece, where he took down the
Kokuro vase. He glanced over his
shoulder into the dusky corners, turn
ed the vase upside down and shook it
vigorously. Just as he replaced it
there came the sound of another step
in the room, and there was the evil
countenance Of the gardener peering in.
Hatsu turned. saw him, and instant
ly the two men leaped for each others
throat.
They wrestled silently, each one
struggling for a death hold. John
Day, standing there behind the screen,
marveled at the deadly struggle.
What was it that each n desired
the Kokuro vase?
He stepped forward, removed the
vase from its place and slipped it in
his pocket. Then as the forms remain
ed silent ON the floor he glanced once
at them. and. convinced that they
would fight it out between them. he
went upstairs to his own bedroom and
locked every door and window.
He wrapped the vase in a cloth and
then shattered it against the edge of
his trunk. When he unwrapped the
broken pieces there fell into his hands
an envelope rolled into a tube. In one
end was something round and hard.
The envelope was sealed with Bur
dicks private seal, and on the outside
it was addressed to the firm of jewel
ers in New York of which John Day
was now a member.
He slipped the sealed envelope into
his inner pocket, and then, his search
ended, he went to the library to dis
cover that the fighting servants had
vanished. He never saw either of
them again.
John Days trip around the world
ended there and then. He taok the
mex steamer for San Francisco, and
six weeks later he stepped into the