Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-11
By GEORGE BARTON
author of "The Worlds Greatest Military
Spies and Secret SerUice Agents"

case, being n matter Of state, I SHOULD
say that its having been stolen wa
much more serious than if it had merel!
been smugged.'
"In any case" / said. rubbing sal
into the wounds of Bromley Barnes
'the customs officers were derelict and
at fault in permitting the diamond to gc
through the lines.
'Well,' grunted Barnes. "we'll ge
it now or my name isn't Barnes"
For the first time since the technica
conversation began we remembered the
presence of Amy Smith. She had beer
! following the talk with open -mouthet
wonder. Although uneducated, she was
bright girl and had grnsped the sig
nificancc of what we were saying. The
interest of the subject had almost made
her forget her own gricfs. She looked
up now with n wan smile on her homely
face:
'Lordy, but this will make Miss Dora
happy. Colonel Wharton amt no Snug
gler after all !"
The same thought had come to my
own mind II Dora Wharton had only
known Of this law how much it might
have saved her. If she had not secretly
taken the diamond from the safe 1t
reminded me of the everlasting truth of
the old lines, "Oh. what a tangled web
we weave when first we practice to de-
ceive
Bromley Barnes was disposed to be
cynical.
81 accept the decision which you
gentlemen have handed down. he said,
'and | want to thank you for your en-
tertaining dissertation on the gentle
art of smuggling. 1t seems that it's not
question of morals at all. It's merely
hair splitting Interpretation of the
law. If the setting Of that boodthirsty
diamond had been Just n shade less
artistic. Colonel Wharton would now
be criminal. As it is, he is simply
much injured and badly used man. it
is laughablc.'
BARNES" exclaimed the collector
sternly. "no one ever said anything
about the morality of the case. It's
just a matter of being law abiding. If
YOU re not willing to live up to the laws
of the land YOU re not a good citizen.
Many people think they are doing a
clever thing if they cheat the govern
mcnt out of its just dues. It's all n
matter of CONSCIENCE. But you know
better than any ono else that the gov
crnment cant afford to let itself be
cheated and that's why it pursues the
offenders to the last ditch"
The old Investigator had been sQuirm-
ing about in his seat during this dis
course and now he Strengthened up and
exclaimed abruptly:
whats the use of wasting our time
with this hot air when we've got i'm
portant business ahead of us? We're in
a hurry -
Fread adjusted his glasses and looked
at Barnes with amazcment depicted on
every lineament of his well-bred coun-
tenance.
MY dear Barnes" he expostulated,
''if we went any faster we'd have to
use flying machine. And as for the
talk, it hasn't delayed us in the least.
Also | can see that it has afforded i'm
mense relief to our young friend here"
. Yes" | admitted, 1T has, and I'm
sure that when we tell Colonel Wharton
it will hasten his recovery
'How about Miss Wharton?' asked
the old fox slyly.
I knew that Bromley Barnes had
been saying more than his prayers. The
allusion caused my cheeks to grow sud
denly very hot and l FASTENED to change
the subject without answering the col
lector's question.