The Yale expositor., 1917-10-11
riend closed the door as I entered the

in the case. hope and believe l have
acted in time. want you to go some
where with me-"
1 knew where 1t was, after he had
held a brief consultation with his Wis
itor. 1t appeared that Miss Druse had
come to his Office less than half an
hour previous in a great state of ex-
element and alarm. She had been
unable TO find her brother, and a
thought had come to her mind that had
driven her to come downtown early in
the morning to visit the safety de-
post vault where the plate, jewelry
and family papers of the estate were
Kept. Only she and her brother held
keys To the section where these val
uables were. She had made an appall-
ing discovery. Family diamonds con-
tanned in a chamois bag to the value
of over 100000, most of them former
ly the property of her dead mother,
were missing. Fooled in securing capt.
tai for his mad scheme of wealth.
Ainslee Druse had secured the jewels.
They were doubtless by this time in
the possession of the conspiratOrs.
81 have had two men acting on or
ders at the seance studio since last
evening" reported Marvel as we spun
along toward our destination. There
is my man now" he added as, reach
ing the front of the building we had
so strangely visited the day previous
prlm, severe-faced individual cam"
TO the side of the machine.
"We have detained the lady," re
ported this ally of Resilius Marvel
"At midnight we saw the crowd had
taken alarm and were bent on flight
You left open orders, and l acted "a
my best judgment"
"Very good"
"NO sign of the young man you d.
| scribed. We were careless about thu
general crowd, but only one or two o.
them made Off"
Take me to the lady," directed
| Marvel.
We found Nirvasa pm cling to and FIR
| In room off from thr apartment
where we had first seen Djalma. Sh!
| feigned GOODNESS and her wanton smile
! cleaned as we entered the apartment
Very briefly, very sternly, Marvel de
manded q knowledge of the where
abOuts of Ainslee Druse.
81 do not know" she averred. "Hi'
dealings have been with Lialma ex
clusively."
"Some valuable diamonds gre miss
Ing" proceeded Marvel. "Thev must
be restored-must; do you under.
stand? AS to your deposit in Hcal
bank, an embargo has been pla Al
upon that until you have accounte
for the $4,000 of which you hav
Invested in your latest dupe."
"You seem TO know a good deal,
said the woman, with her serpentin
smile.
81 know enough to detaln you a
leisure for long time" stated Mai
vel with sternness. "COme, wish t
see this Djalma Xiii"
1T is useless"
"And why?"
"He is dead. In arranging to Tt
move him one of the men tipped {;
piece of furniture against the glass
globe. The supply of gas was cut of
He died within the hour.
We stepped into the next room Mir
vasa had spoken the truth. The grea
glass case lay in brittle ruins on the
floor of the room. Two of the servi
tors were lifting the poor remains OF
The Oldest Man In The World into 2
long cedar box.
81 have only one request to make
Mr. Marvel" spoke the woman gravely
"And what is that?" demanded Maj
vel.
You jeer at my calling and its &C
cessories, but at least this OLD man wa'
genuine and consistent. l am Hindl
enough to respect sacred pledge
whatever charge you may brinL
against me, / will stand the penalty
AS to the victim of an unfortunate aC.
cident, poor Djalma, ask you to le
his remains be shipped TO a relative
of his who is n member of HindI
colony in the east. They will send his
body back to his native land, fam
lily responsibility they treasure an"
revere"
Perhaps" said Marvel, steadil,
looking into the woman's eyes-"afte
an inquest"
Nirvasa started as If scorpion haf
stung her. Dlsmay, disappointment,
defeat were evinced in her features
She bit her lip and trembled with sup
pressed rage.
|
"Stand aside" ordered Marvel to the
two servit0rs. He pushed them away
and 1 saw him grope within the ceda'
chest and his hands move all about
The wasted body of Djalma Xiii.
II thought So" he observed quietly,
drawing from under the black, silken
funeral robe of The Oldest Man In
The World n little chamois bag.
"When i have verified these jewels
he said to Nirvasa, land the S40,000
and Ainslee Druse have materialized
you and your mountebank accomplices
/ n-fn q n.