Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1917-03-02

London he submitted his purchase to q
, precious stone expert. The report was
surprising 1T is pigeon blood red
ruby almost perfect in color aud trans3
parency and worth anywhere from ~
hundred to hundred and fifty thou$
sand dollars"
Il was evident from this that the
ruby had been stolen. and Worthington'
would have liked 10 return it TO its
owner; but. in the first place. he did
not know who was the owner, and, in
the second. he was obliged to sail with.
out delay for America.
On the steamer coming over he care
ried his ruby on his person by day.
pinning IL in his inner vest pocket,
folding the vest carefully and putting
it under his pillow at night. One after
noon, having spent the day ON deck,
he went to his stateroom, and, having
put his key in The lock and taken it
out, he noticed IA bit of something
white on it. Examining it thoroughly,
he found the substance TO be wax.
Worthington pondered long as to his
discovery, for he suspected at once that
some one was In possession of the Sc
cret of his having the ruby He had
told no one of his purchase, and no
one had seen il except the London
gem expert How, them could any one
know that it was in his possession?
He did not care to part with the
jewel by having it stolen from him.
The price he had paid for it, the fact
that he had unwittingy bought
stolen property and that he was de-
sirous of returning it to its owner con-
strained him to be on his guard with
it. 1t occurred to him 10 turn it over
for safe keeping to the purser of the
ship, but that officer would ask him
its value, and he did not wish to i'm
part this to any one. Fearing that il
he kept it on his person he would be
murdered for its possession, he con-
cluded to hide ii.
Going to the ships carpenter, he bor-
rowed Il few tools and, returning to
his stateroom, took up board in the
floor, placed the ruby, wrapped in cot
ton. in the cavity and replaced the
board Returning the tools, he borrow
ed some varnish and revarnished the
disturbed place. While doing this work
he made sure that no one was in any
of the adjoining staterooms.
Having thus put the gem where he
was sure it would be safe, he felt
easier. though lie was careful not to
go to lonely parts of the ship and bar
ricaded his stateroom door at night,
for he thought one who was after the
ruby might think it was kept on his
person.
At the end OF the voyage while the
ship was being locked Worthington
removed the board under which he
had placed his gem and was thunder
struck to see the place empty.
He was more discounted at not be-
ing able to return it to its owner than
at the loss of the price he had paid for
it. But what engaged his whole at
tention was how. could the thief have
known where he had hidden it,
He thought of calling for search
of all on board. but abandoned the
idea as futile. There seemed nothing
to do but pocket the loss and think no
more about ii.
The morning after Worthngton's ar
rival at his home in New York he was
told that visitor wished TO see him.
The person proved to be of dark color
and Il cast of features common in In
dia. He was we'll dressed and appear
ed to be an upper caste. Advancing
TO Worthington, he handed him a check
for $4,000.
"Mr. Worthington," he said, "A ruby
was recently stolen from the rajah of
Ringpure, in India, by one OF his serv-
ants and sold To you for the amount of
this check. Tile thief was arrested,
confessed and told what he had done
with the gem. which is one of the
rarest in the world. His highness the
ra jah directed me to follow you and
recover the gem. l did as he com
manded and have it in my possession"
But why asked Worthington. did
You not tell me that the ruby had been
stolen and ask me to return IT."
"Firstly, | could only ask you to re.
turn it; could not compel you. Sec
would surrender it or what terms YOU
would make
but you would have had the lava
said Worthington.
Yes, but you western people have
a saying, Possession is nine points in
the law We Indians have something
much better than the law. We arc
adopts in secret methods
Il shall certainly not dispute that"
said Worthington. Now that the mat
ter is finished | wish you would tell
me why YOU think ii necessary TO rel
turn me the price paid for the gem
His highness has many English and
American friends and does not wish to-
do an injustice.
LASTLY. will you tell me how YOU
recovered the ruby
II came over in the same ship with