Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-29
THE DIAMOND THIEVES
Thew llSafe
OR the essential oil OF ennui,
commend me to a combination
of country house, faded deco

the down train the day after a big
wedding! Excitement, keyed immod-
erately high, brings its inevitable
backswings of dullness.
"Miramar" after the Obden- Belpont
wedding, at any rate, reminded me
that excessive glory is only too apt
to be followed by excessive WEAKNESS.
We were small but plainly bored
group at dinner that night.
Wrinkle was there and Rear Admiral
Trevor Ferris was there, and Gwen
dolyn de Haven and Miss Blanchan
and the taciturn Obden- Belpont him.
self, with reserve" written across
his front as plainly as "Miramar' was
written across his gate pillar. They
all seemed rather tired and self
immured and just a little relieved.
And ] shared that feeling. for my
work, knew, was over Mrs Obden-
Belpont, finally released from the
calls Of generaIship had taken bro
mide and a hot bath and had gone to
bed, though a residuary scattering or
workmen, both out on the terrace and
in the house itself, were quietly yet
industriously removing the last OF the
decorations.
The only occupied person in our own
group ] noticed as l sat back and
studied them, was Miss Blanchan.
From the city afternoon papers she
was carefully clipping and pinning
together sensationally labeled photo
graphs and ingeniously elaborated
descriptions Of the great wedding and
ito gifts, descriptions by the way,
tch hol n nript n
siderable time before the ceremony
itself had even started. Indeed. as sat
there idly watching the woman with
those garnered sheaves Of recorded
glory, couldn't help specializing as
to what other eyes might be perusing
the same unabashed explorations Of
splendor. Among them. l told myself,
there would be some that were covet-
GUS and some that were designing and
some that We're rebellious. ! couldn't
help remembering that the gentry
who make profession of jewel steal
ing had the habit of watching tho
society pages as closely as does the
latest climber trying to enfilade the
social register. | couldn't help Won
dering If this stood as an explana-
tion of why the reticent William
Obden- Belpont had offhandedly sug-
gested that l stay over for a day or
two. For ] remembered that these
same jewels had yet to be transfer
red from "Miramar" to the safety
deposit vaults where they would be
duly stored to await the return Of
their owner.
had plenty of time to do my think
sror CT, al
So 1 sat there. as impersonally idle
as the rest of them.
AS sat there abstractedly watch
ing the last of the workmen dis
mantlng the glories of that monday
spectacle, let my eyes dwell on what
i had accepted as florists assistant
quietly engaged in removing the last
Of bank of orchid-tinted hydrangeas
and winding up the ultimate yards OF
what had once seemed endless bolts
Of cream colored ribbon. AS he
crossed the terrace and stepped into
the house itself his face was suddenly
turned toward me. 1t was at the
exact moment l caught glimpse Of
those features lit up by the bunch
light swung out over the close-clipped
turf, that. the fash had struck out Of
the grayness of things, like minnie
wafer over no mans land, sending
a Jingle along my nerve ends and
warning message back from the OBJ
servaton posts of instinct. For in
that sedentary workman, SO monoton-
ously winding up the last of his
weary days work, / saw Citrate Sam
alias Sad Sam Everson one Of the
trickiest and most audacious gem
thieves outside Of Jail walls.
got up languidly from my chair,
crossed the huge room. and began
eurreptitious survey of the ground
floor Of the house.
l wandered on, with apparent aim
1essness. until / came to the private
study of Obden Belpont, at one end Of
which the wall safe stood. There /
came to a stop, listening for a moment
or two. Then l switched on the lights,
looked carefully about, and crossed to
the panel of heavily carved mahogany
which screened the front of the wall
safe itself. ! released this panel by
the secret spring which held it in
place, swung it back, and examined
the safe front.
Everything there was in order. 1t
wasn't until ! stopped down and
looked over the contact mat which |