Evening star., 1922-08-03

was leaving to meet the Sylvania.
1t was a weird trip through the
choppy winter seas of the upper bay
and the Narrows in the dark. with
the wind cold and bleak.
The tug had scarcely cast off from
The Battery, where we met 1t, when
2 man.. who had been watching us
from a crevice Of his turned-up col
lar. quietly edged over.
You are Prof. Kennedy. the de-
tective?" he began. more as If as
serting it than asking the question.
nothing.
Il understand" he went on not
waiting for a reply. that you are
interested in the case of that little
Russian actress, Rawaruska"
Still Kennedy said nothing.
MY name is Wade. of the customs
service" pursued the man, nothing
abashed. Sticking his head for
ward between the corners of his high
collar, he added in a lowered voice
You have heard, suppose, Of the
great amber diamond, The Invinci-
ble'?"
/. Kennedy nodded, and I though,
ever heard-the Pitt, the Orion, the
Kohi-noor. the Star of the South
the Cullinan and others.
THE Invincible. you know ne
added, ''is the largest amber diamonc
in the world, almost the size of tht
famous Cullinan. over 300 carats: l,
was found in the dry diggings of the
Vaal river few miles from Kim
berley. The dry diggings independ.
ent of the De Beers combine, o'
course. Well. its owner has always
been in the position Of Mark Twain,s
man with the million dollar bank
note. who found it too large to cash
No nof W
diamond of that size is really worth
This one is almost perfect, resem-
bles the huge top OF decantei
stopper. It's beautiful orange
color and has been estimated at
well. as high as close to a quarter
OF million, though, as L saio' ina
is all guesswork."
''Yes?" remarked Kennedy, more
for politeness than anything else.
Wade leaned over closer.
1.-The Invincible." he whispered
shielding his lips from the Keen. pl'-
ing gale. was last known to beions
to the De Guerres of Antwerp. One
of my special agents abroad has
cabled me to look out for II. ne
thinks there is reason to believe II
viii be SNUG gled into America foi
safe keeping during the troubles IL
Belgium
1t seemed to make no difference &c
the customs man that Kennedy ole
not exactly welcome him. with oper
arms. THE De Queries are wei
known dealers in diamonds, one Q,
the leading houses in the city o'
Diamonds as Antwerp has been car
ed One of the De Queries Is or
the Sylvania, the junior partner
he paused, then added-"the nus
thought perhaps you might De Will
inc TO try to help me.
II should be glad TO-. repiied heh
nedy tersely. ponderinS what 'he
officer had told US.
Nothing more was said on the TRIP
and at last we came to the Sylvania
living grim and dark of hull off the
little cluster of Quarantine build
ings. with myriads of twinkhns
lights on her far above. but scarcely
relieving the blackness OF the leVla'
than form. .
Thompson. the purser, quiet. nn-
excltable Englishman. met US as We
cams over the side and for the mo.
ment we lost sight of our ne"
friend. Wade. -
perhaps you didn't know it" in
formed Thompson as we mace our
way through the ship. put fa"a
ruska was married-had oeeh lot
some time. ri.o
who was her husband? querleo
Kennedy. seeking confirmation ot
what he had already neard;
"Armaud De Guerre, a belgian o.
Antwerp" was the reply. "one of the
partners in a famous old diamond
cutting firm of that city
Kennedy looked at the e purse,
keenlv for moment. then asked
We're they travelling together?
"Oh, yes-that is, he had engaged
a room. but you know how crowdeo
the boats are with refugees heelns
to America from the war. He gave
nm his room. or. rather his snare VI
il. to a woman. a professional SAFES
woman. we'll known. 1 beheVe. IN
Antwerp as vel as the Rue de la
Paix in Paris and Maiden lane aho
Fifth avenue. of our city-a MISS
Hoffman-Elsa Hoffman. She shareo q
the room with Rawaruska, while lie
Guerre took his chances in the steer
age" ,ho
main corridors we noticed ahead OF
us seemingly very nervous and eX-
cited gentleman engaged apparently
in heated conversation Win
another. ,o,
Thompson as we approached
The two seemed to be just on tne
noint of parting as we neared them
and l think our approach nastehea
them. / could not hear what one OF
them said. but heard De GTerre nsa,,
almost hiss as he turned on ms heei:
..Weli, sir. you were the last one
seen with her alive
A moment later the purser intro
duced us to De Guerre. There was
something about him nsre which sor. I can IN
hypnotic fascination. I felt tnstinc-
lively that such a man would WELD ea
women. was it his eyes or was it
merely his ardent foreign grace?
you must find out the truth" he
cried eagerly. ALREADY they are
saying it was suicide. But I cannot
believe it. It cannot be. No; she
was murdered
Kennedy ventured no opinion, but
now. more than ever, fastened to
signify to the purser that he wanted
to look over the ground as quickly
as possible before the ship docked.
Rawaruska. we found, had occu-
pied room 1856, on the port side of
one of the lower decks. Kennedy