New Britain herald., 1924-07-15

chronological order, All policemen
 are not fools; if 1 should trace, with
 too great eNaetiiude my various move
 ments. dormant suspicious would hes
 come wakeful. Moreover. il is mol
 my intention to publish all my ad'
 ventures. prefer rather to eoniine
 myself to those incidents which have
 in them something Of tho unusual
 In presenting the history Of an artist,
 one does not deem it essential 10 res
 late where he purchased his brushes
 And l am an artist.
 Behold mo. then, seated at table on the terrace Of the Cafe de Paris,
 slipping my coffee. II was the atro-
 cious docoction, rather. which the
 French call coffee. Ii is. this coffee, the only blemlsh upon an otherwise charming people, And l will confess with what hesitation may seem suit able to the prejudiccs of the day, that had mltigsted its bitterness with some finc champagne. Moreover, ] had dined at Ciro's. andnothing could efiace the memory of that marvellous repast.
 The air was balmy The tables were crowded. It seemed as If all the world had run away from his wife and brought his sweetheart here. | For there was an air Of excitement, of careless gayety, that unfortunately is not too closely associated with re- spectable domesticity I could hear every tongue, save German, spoken; and 1 strongly suspected that the gut | fnr at, lN,, toit tensbie Swiss had been learned ip Berlin. For though the German is not given, even at this time in the worlds history to denying his ma tionality, Monte Carlo is worth a tran sient treason.
 |. For moment I felt lonely. l wished that ], too, were accompanied by charming lady into whose ears l could whisper soft flatteries, and into whose hands, later on, l could press the inlaid plaques wherewith one stakes at roulette or chemin de fer . But 1 put the thought from me. The artist in crime must be like Kip ling's cat: he walks alone.
 And in moments such as these, when I realize that certain things are denie l me, I seek for change. for re- taxation. And before me, outlined nelectric lights, and shone cynically upon by the scornful stars above, loomed the great bulk of the Casino. Excitement was not far to seek.
 I raised my finger; my waiter came to my side and presented the small bill
 Monsieur plays?" he smiled.
 "One feels gratitude to the authors of these glorious surroundings" I told him. "One does not play; one enters the Casino and pays for the privilege of being here"
 The walters smile was swiftly sym pathetic. Monsieur is unfortunate ?"
 I shrugged. Does anyone ever win here?" I asked.
 "Ah, yes, monsieur. The good luck smiles on many" he assured me.
 'I'll believe it when I see it," I l retorted.
 "Then Monsieur would be well ad- vised if he watched the play of the Baronne d'Esterelle this evening. | Her luck has been phenomenal for the past week. l know, for one of my | cousins is croupier, and he has told | me. If Monsieur will note the lady, l at the second table to the right, he will see her."
 I followed the direction of his | glance. Of course the Baronne | d d'Esterelle would be fortunate at | games of chance. God had given | her neither beauty nor charm; she was grossly overfed woman, who radiated vufgarity; l suppose it is only fair that such persons, devoid of all other gifts, should be lucky. l felt an instant desire to relieve her of some of the priceless baubles that. beautiful in themselves, pitlessly | contrasted with her own ugliness.
 50 the little god smiles on her!" I said to the waiter.
 Luck, like love, is blind, mon- sieur," he replied. I like the French. Even their lower classes are delft of speech.
 I looked at him. "You recom- mend the Baronne's good fortune to me, and yet that fortune does not seem to please you"
 Had we been anywhere else, l think he would have spat upon the ground. 1T gave two sons to France, he said. "The Baronne gave none. Her sons were occupied in the production of munitions. France has her profiteers, monsieur. Those jewels which she wears were bought with money made in the war. An, we'll she has one jewel less than she had last week. The luck frowns even as it smiles"
 "She lost a iewel?" I asked.
 He spread his palms and pursed his lips. Who knows? Monsieur does not read French, perhaps. Our news papers printed much about the, Baronne's pearl necklace. She woret 1t one night in the Casino. She wcntA back to her hotel without it. The papers say that detectives from Paris are Investigating the matter. The clasp may have dropped to the floor. But Monsieur is aware that strange people come to Monte Carlo. Bonne monsieur."
 tipped him, and with my coat over my arm, l stroled across the square to the Casino. And as l I drowned. As the waiter had said, strange people come to Monte Carlo. I would like to meet hat strange one who had taken the Baronne's necklace. It took genius Q abstract a necklace from wo- mans throat in the halls of the Casino. And I was grateful to the ,arrulous little waiter. had come o the Riviera for rest with no inten-