The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-02-24
A STOLEN
GEM
By ALAN HlNSDAE

cious stone expert. and the report was
surprising. 1T is a pigeon blood red
ruby almost perfect In color and trans
parency and worth anywhere from
hundred TO hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars"
1t was evident from this that the
ruby had been stolen. and Worthington
would have liked to return ii 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 car
ried his ruby on his person by day,
pinning II il his inner vest pocket,
folding the vest carefully and putting
1t under his pillow at night One after.
| noon, having spent the day on deck,
he went TO his statcroom. and. having
put his key in the lock and taken it
out, he noticed bit of something
white on It, Examining it thoroughly.
he found the substance TO he wax.
Worthington pondcrcd long as 10 his
discovery. for he suspected at once that
some one was In possession of the Sc
cret of his having the ruby. lie had
told no one of his purchase. and no
one had seen it except the London
! gem expert. How, then. could any one
know that 1t was in his possession?
He did not care TO part With the
, jewel by having 1t stolen from him.
The price he had paid for it. the fact
that he had unwittingly bought a
! stolen property and that he was de-
sirous of returning II 10 its owner con-
! strained him to be on his guard with
| It. 1t occurred to him to turn 1t 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 If
he kept 1t on his person he would be
murdered for its possession, he con-
cluded to hide 1t.
Going to the ships carpenter, he bor-
rowed a few tools and. returning to
his stateroom. took up board in the
fioor, 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 he was careful not to
go to lonely parts of the ship and bar
ricadcd 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 docked 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 1t to its owner than
at the loss of the price he had paid for
ii. 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 it.
The morning after Worthington'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 cast of features common In In
da. He was well dressed and appear
ed to be an upper caste Advancing
to Worthington. he handed him check
for $4,000.
"Mr. Worthington." he said IA ruby
\ was recently stolen from the rajah of
Rlngpure. in India. by Que of his serv'
/, ants and sold 10 you for the amount OF
| this check. The thief was arrested
! confessed and told what he had done
with the gem. which is one Of the
rarest In the world His highness tn,
rajah directed me to follow you and
recover the gem. | did as he com
manded and have it in my possession.
but why" asked Worthington, ''dit
| you not tell me that the ruby had beer
stolen and ask me to return it,
II Firstly. could only ask you 10 re
! turn It. could not compel you Sec
II ondly. did not know whether yor
would surrender 1t or what terms yol
would make"
"But you would have had the law.
said Worthington.
Yes, but you western people hav
saying. Possession is nine points 4
the law We Indians have somethin
much better than the law. We ar
adapfS in Sacrat nafhndS
Il shall certainly not Dispute that.
said Worthington. Now that the ma
ter is finished | wish you would te
me why you think 1t necessary to r.
turn me the price paid for the gem.
His highness has many English an
, American friends and does not wish |
do an injustice"
Lastly. viii you tell me how yo
p recovered the ruby"