Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-01
THE DIAMOND THIEVES BY ARTHUR STRING

from 0nder white enameled iron
bed l unearthed an iron-bound box
about the size of a steamer trunk.
Its huge wrought-iron lock was q
formidable docking one.. but SO old
fashioned in its simplicity that Ave
minutes with my Spider had con-
quered it and ! was able to lift back
the heavy lid. .~
1t was not until ]. delved below the
tray that I discovered anything Of
Importance. Then things began to
happen. .... ... .'' i!
l first unearthed an automatic. PTS
toll with a box Of cartridges beside 1t.
Then came small pair Of jewelers.
scales and a diamond gage. Then
came rows Of small manila envelopes,
dozens and dozens of them. each one
dated and bearing a number and an
inscription which 1 gas unable to
decipher. But 1 carefully lifted out
one of these envelopes and peeked
into it. 1t held a beautifully cut dia-
'pond of the first water, about three
carats in weight. And each envelope
] looked into, contained 'one or more
Of these stones. Beside them 1 saw
an old cigar box; much-handled
box: with faded labels and dog:
cared revenue stamp enoircling it. 1t
was humble enough looking con-
tainer. But 1 blinked involuntarily
as lifted the lid, for 1t flashed back
the light in a thousand broken prisms
and / realized as / stared down at
1t that l was looking at several hun
dred cut diamonds, diamonds of all
shapes and sizes, some of them pure
white, some a canary yellow, some
faint.y tinged with blue and pink,
some cut rose and double rose, with
two or three cut briolette. a..t
Under little German textbook on
high explosives that l stumbled across
something which brought catch N
my breath and a little tingle Of triumph
up and down my backbone. .-.
My discovery was nothing more than
a neatly kept pocket notebook. But on
its orderly pages were entered lists of
stones received, with dates, and among
the addresses l found such names as
Angelo Pareto, Samuel Everson, August
Zwack. Fidelo Forcarino. Marie Des-
champs and William Rellstab. each es-
tablished as trafficker in stolen Jewels
and each with his present whereabouts
duly revealed There. before me, were
the names that Sloan and his agents
had spent fruitless weeks in trying to
find. -,
1 wanted that book and that list more
than anything else. But would it be
safe for me to carry it away?
1 thought it over, there on my knees
beside the open trunk, and decided to
restore the book to where l had found
1t. I carefully replaced the tray re-
locked the trunk, and pushed 1t back
to It's earlier position beneath the white
enameled bed. l breathed more freely
when was out Of that room and safely
back In my own. There I made ready
for the street. for l realized that l had
important business ahead Of me that
night.
had reached the second floor when
l found that another person was COM
ing up those stairs and coming AZ noise
lessty as ! was trying to 30 down them
This other person was a man, but I'd
been unable to catch sight Of his face.
"Escusa, rnees. but you know Of man
call. Schoenfeid?". r''.i~a' - s,@ =.
I remained silent for moment. and
thon nodded my head in assent For al :
heard that s,iave; and Yull-toned voice
ask it's question knew even before
saw tire outlines Of the 1olive-skihnAd
face in the clearer light from the hall
bracket that I was once more standing :
face to face with. Angelo Pareto. - ',rT'
Then. where mus 60 fihds heen p"
Then: he suddenly stood stock stilT and
tho smile died away from his olive
skinned face. He looked at me long
and earnestly. 90; .,,. -
: also saw that he stood on higher
ground than did, and this, Il remem-
pered. would always be a disadvantage. ;
SO instinctively I moved up tho remain
ing three steps Of the stairway. cling
ing to the banisters and watching him
at each STEP. 1t wasn't until I reached
the hall floor that he either, moved or
spoke.
"Escusa. please" he said In his full
voweled Latin information. II maka
one beeg meestak, tink?"
There was note of irony. Of mock
cry. I'm sure, in that apology of his.