Evening star., 1922-08-04
The Diamond Queen.
BY ARTHUR B. REEVE.
One of The Stars Weekend Fiction Series.
Each story complete in three installments.

ESsE1El4G GE391 1I9IE[9IGlS SIGl9ls1elGlr9e'cs
The story thus far: o.. u.st the
s,Irsnie at Quarantine to investigate the
death Of Rawaruska. famous Russian ,dspsap dspce5
The puIser Th0mPsSn' Psm nim aao about. She has
apparently @ died from sort of asPhy iyo.d nia
ZION: Her husband De. DE- Gdeahs Hoffman da
tmepd seller: Ceciie, her maid. and Or.
Preston. young American doctor. are ar,ice al ,n
man. tells Kennedy he has been sent to tne
shin to look for the Invincible. huge amoes
coIored diamond. which, IL Is sa'o' may
on board.
T WATCHED Preston closely, not
quite making out what he was
driving at, nor the reason for the
q strained relations that no"
seemed to exist among the TOT liei
friends. Still following KENNEDY
every motion Preston retired 10 the
position of a more than intefes'eu
spectator
Craig had completed hasty
search of the room, with lts ltlie
dressing table, two trunks ana q
cabinet. Everything seemed to nave
been kept in a most neat and orderly
tliC
was apparently a model servant.
The little white bathroom mas
equally immaculate. ana henleuI
passed next to an examination VI
Inc little room of the French MAD.
CeciIie was pretty, dark llttie
being, with swapping black eyes IN.
type of winsome F'reneh Ha.u c,ad
Rawaruska, with her artists loVe "
the beautiful, to have picked out 10
serve her dainty self ~
AS ] ran my eye over the group
that was how intently %a.cnans ann,
Kennedy at work I fancied causn =
Hsa Hoffman eyinS Cecnie Sharply.
and am sure that once at ieas.
those black eyes snapped oacA
wireless message of defiance at .ns
penetrating eyes OF oiue. .o ~
hostility between the two women.
..Tbe door was not locked. you
saw" repeated Craig, following up
one of the first of his own questlons
to Cecilie which had resuioeo III III
earthing this new fact go. ~
NON monsieur" replied Cecllle IN
accented English. which was charm-
ing, am'selle-we called her that I.
her stage name-used to leave II
open in case of fire or acciaent
You know there have been some aw :
fnl wrecks lately. and she was, on
SO nervous omn+ed
Craig quickly, watching the enect VI
"AiI in the ships safe in care OF OF
,na nurser," replied Cecilie. so
were Miss Hoffman's;" ..na
"Yes" corroborated Thompson, anu
besides. the corridors and passase-
ways were well patroileo Wy S'e
ards at all times"
The search of Cecilie's room. which
was small and more scantly Aui
nished, took only few minutes:
A suppressed exclamation I'm IN,
Craig served to divert my attentlon
from the study of those around me
to the study of Kennedy hlmsel anu
what he had discovered.
Hidden away in the back OF
drawer in small chihoniefr;; fr;a ne that mai
aroused interest if they did not whet
the blade of suspicion. .,.
mon pieu." exclaimed the malo
az Kennedy suppressed a smile OF
qualification at the outcome te ln;na2a OF 'ne
Kennedy drew out from the PACK
Of the drawer. where 1t had oe@
tucked, a little silken bag. He open.
ed H. On the surface it seemed tnat
the bag was empty. but as IN ne Psoasn, Paoe to-
neer in I could see that just whin
Of it's contents was enough.
.-What have you got there?" I asked
Kennedy, careful that no one else
could overhear US
Other Chemical" sneezed Craig.
Very effective to throw into the
face Of any one." he commented, clos.
ing quickly the bag by its loose Sos
drawing strings that ,,ns Is .nd II yUt yut
merely want to blind MIN ana put
him out temporarily.
did not pay much attention to the
protests of the maid nor the look y.
triumph that crossed the race ot
Elsa Hoffman and surprise exhi0i.ea hsa
by DR.. Preston. For Kennedy nao
picked up from the same drawer
little toilet vaporizer. too, and was
examining 1t minutely.
As he held it up I could see. or
rather I fancied, that it was empty.
He pressed the bulb lightly. then
seemed to start back quickly.
tWhat's that?" I Queried. mystif1ed
at his actions.
Something the French secret
he returned frankly, IAN anesthetic
so incredibly rapid and violent that
the spies usually women, who use IT
wear a fiber veil over their oWn
mouths and noses to protect them
selves
r could only wonder what might be
the explanation. Cecilie was pro-
testing vClubly. now in fair English,
now in liquid French. that she knew
absolutely nothing of the articles.
+ wondered whether Rawaruska
herself might not have placed them
there Might she not have been
SPY, one OF those clever little dancers
who had wormed themselves by their
graceful agility into the good graces
of some of the worlds leading men
and made Russia a recognized diplo-
matte power?
Something like the same idea must
have been suggested to DR.. Sander
son, who was standing next to me,
for he bent over and remarked to me
in an undertone. with a significant
glance at what Kennedy had discov-
esed. '1 suppose you realize that the