Evening star., 1918-02-17
:: The Ravished Ruby ::


g 0ERY neat very neat. indeedr
NJ muttsred Mr.. Paul Beck, sp-
wv provingly. II was after mid
" night, and Mr. Beck was sit
atne In the parior of his snug lodgings
sn Cester-he always liked to MAKE
himssif as comfortable as possible
reading that mornings Daily Teie-
DAYLIGHT BURGLARY.
Clever Capture-The Rayished RUBY
Unaccountable Escape
vere thu most conspicuous Of the head
angs that caught and held the profess
sional eye of the detective.
The Kubla Khan Ruby" so ran the
report has disappeared as suddenly
and mysteriousiy as II was discovered.
1t already has been told more than once
in these columns how young Viscount
Mervel. having lost his fortune az play.
and his heart in earnest, with the char
acteristic pluck of an Engiishman. set
out for Ceyinn to make his fortune.
The story of his return vita the peer
lass Ceylon ruby, which had been miss
ing for more than ten centuries, has for
the last fortnight been the talk OF the
town There is no doubt at all nut
I that it is the famous ruby wnicn marco
1 Polo described in the close OF the thlr-
: teenth century long after II had dIsap
peared. the Identical stone which kubla
Khan coveted. and which the Ceylon
King forbade his amha assador TO sell ior
. city.
..It was almost as hard TO discover
n purchaser for this peerless Jewel as
it was to discover the ruby itself; but
q syndicate was in progress OF iorma-
ton to buy il for half a million-aoout
far estimated
Kohinoor-which price had been nxeu
by a jury of experts as reasonable,
Meanwhile the gorgeous gem Lay bIaz-
ing With red name in its case of white
velvet, the center OF attraction in the
shop window Of Mr.. Dolas OF Bond street,
perhaps the most eminent jeweler IN
Iandon-that is to say, in the world
Who was chairman of the syndicate
sehis most daring robbery. gathered by
om representative from the bps OF cry
iiian eyeWttnAsseA About noon yesfer-
day, when the throng OF sightseers was
most dense round the window. two gen
tIeuen arm in arm. well dressed and
Unokinx cigarettes, were observed fore
ing their way somewhat rudely through
the crowd which consisted largely OF
women and children Before the police
could interfere a sudden alteration arose.
Instantly there was scene Of the widest
confusion. The excited crowd swayed
again and again against the great glass
window While the police were forcing
their way through the dense throng
crash Of breaking glass was heard: ana ana
instantly the red Light Of the ruby had
vanished.
But a moment afterWard the police
had Ian strong hands on one Of the gen
tlsmen who had helped to ortganate the
aistwhanee. and had S oeen I'm moss ts ac1vS was IN
proved to be a heavily luaded bsudseon.
though In appearance only . gentiemans
ordinary bamboo cane, and his wrist Was
eighty rasped, a. II BY broken glass
great hole was broken in the window,
plainly by design. opposite the spot where
the ruby had lain, and the strong wire
netting was torn away by main FORCE
The police at once searched the prisoner
carefully. but found no trace Of the
missing gem
The strange. adventure does not end
here. The custodians of the peace pro-
ceeded toward the police station with
the prisoner. who from the first con-
tented himself with protesting his in
nocence and offered no resistance. They
had not, however. got well clear OF the
crowd when they were suddenly set
upon by a gang of desperadoes. by
whom they were brut2lly mAltreated
least. Is the account Of the police them
selves. VINO wefe found lying in q heap
mDeh beuised and shaken.
~Hm.S said Ne Beck. es he Finished
column TK0 U89 uD6h4nG ID inocrest
him there
m b TOO h.d.. he a9d. In ssutle dss-
eent..4 TOO bad am away. It's just
tho nfxle Job that would suit me"
M. Beck had come down from Lon
don ON what he modestly called n Sim
PIE, commonplace little job" a bit Of
banknote forgery. But simple as the
job vas. il had bothered not merely the
local police, but two particularly smart
and up-to-date scientific detectives
who preceded Mr.. Beck from London.
Eefore he was week in Chester Mr..
Beck had laid a heavy hand on the
criminal
He picked up a railway guide from
a side table and glanced at it with
practiced eyes.
FIRST train tomorrow at 1:eo for
London I'm there
The timetable was sim IN his hAnts.
BY mere accident, as it seemed, he
Gf1nced At tie other pa&A-
Down train IN It 1z-73 tonight He
booked af his big t@ip Of a watch
HA6-paSG 15t in time III turn
00Wn Do 6he station and meet n and get
% Looaoa evening papern There may
b some maeo neWx
He turned hts sa.AAsd renl1lns 1zmD
0nD0 to AGfMeE pUkmS pipeS aside,