The Bismarck tribune., 1924-07-26

mine ana SllppeQ INTO IL DOX. In
her excitement her shaking fingers
relaxed their grip Of the second box.
l got that, too, and would have been
at loss how to proceed, but for the
fact that, leaning over until her face
was close to mine, she whispered
frantically: "The first one, the first
one
| slipped the second box swiftly
into my pocket, arose and handed
Daragon the first one. He took it
from me, and Immediately united
and opened it. He sighed with relief.
"Much obliged" he said. "For a
minute | thought--damn it, didn't
think! | know that l put that box
in my pocket, and it couldn't have
fallen out"
81 picked it from the floor" re-
minded him.
at didn't fall there" insisted the
jeweler.
"Then how did it get there" de-
manded the crook.
81 don't know" said Daragon. "If
! did, I'd call the police"
What do you mean? 2" demanded
the crook.
81 don't mean anything; l don't
have to mean anything, do |? But
that box didn't walk out of my
pocket" snarled the jeweler.
"Are you insinuating began the
crook.
Daragon interrupted him. "When
fifty thousand-dollar diamond ring
leaves my pocket, | can insinuate
all ] damn please. If you don't like
1T, lump it. | was fool to bring it
down here anyway. My store is the
place for me to do business"
Better be careful" warned the
crook.
you'd give me forty thousand; you
said you'd bring the cash here. l
said ! wanted fifty"
"Well, what about it?" demanded |
my host of the earlier evening,
"This much about it," cried Dara-
gon. 81 get suspicious, and you get |
sore. Well, if Pm wrong, III apollo
gize. Produce forty thousand in
cash, and I'll give you the ring.
You'll prove your good faith and III
prove my regret" He waited min
ute. thought, considering the vast |
amount of cash that the other man
had shown me earlier in the evening, !
that he might be able to produce
forty thousand. But if he could, he |
evidently did not choose to do so.
81 guess that will hold you," sneered |
Daragon. "If l didn't hate scandal, !!
I'D call the police"
He turned on his heel, gave me a
grudging nod of thanks, and walked |
out of the restaurant. ] stood a
moment smiling at the crook.
"YOu certainly do need me-" |
laughed. Then, though having recog-
niZed me he would have detained me-
! walked over to my table. What did !!
/, who was about to die, have in |
common with such a person? The |
thanks Of himself, or of his pretty |
feminine companion, would not do |
me any good. |
l paid my waiter and walked to the
check-room. l will confess that
was slightly embarrassed at my in
ability to tip the coat-boy. But l |
need not have been; for Daragon,
just donning his overcoat, saw me
and seemed to regret his lack of |
courtesy. He handed the ,coatboy |
an extra coin.
"Let me do that much," he said, !
"'-even though you did me shabby |
turn"
,% L.
mean?" l asked.
We were at the cloak-room en-
trance now. Daragon jerked fat
thumb toward the dining room.
"Don't you think had that
crooks number? 1t was the girl
I wanted. / guessed their game,
and played the come-on simply to
get her where wanted her."
"And where was that?" l asked.
He grinned. "She's stuck on him.
But figured that if l caught them
with the goods, she'd forget how
stuck she was on him if / didn't |
prosecute. Get me?"
81 do," said l coldly.
81 suppose she dropped it, and you
saw it fall. If you hadn't stepped in,
I'd have had them dead to rights.
Oh, we'll, a man can't get everything |
he thinks he wants"
A sense of the monstrous injustice
OF life came to me. That injustice |
could be rer:edied by money. For
instance that jewel in Daragon's
pocket could be turned into thous
ands of dollars. Even.I, gentle
man, had heard, in recent months |
of poverty, of "fences," those men
who buy the loot of thieves; / even
knew where one or two of them re-
sided. The skirts of poverty brush
the feet Of criminality.
! was about to die, because l had |
neither productive nor constructive
brains. But perhaps had the third
kind, destructive brain. If my fur
collared friend could make success
OF crime. despite the paucity of
imagination, which bis clumsy |
scheme for robbing Daragon had dis
closed, what tremendous success l
could achieve!
Honor? ADHERENCE to it led me to
the gutter, was about to lead me to
the river!
Daragon stepped aside to let me
precede him through the restaurant
door. l exercised the only talent that
/ had, sleight- of-hand. l substituted
the second box, which the girl had
given me, for the one that lay in
Daragon's pocket.
1 nodded farewell to him-to more
than him; to all the past that lay
beh'"d mo. And I kissed my hand
to the future. I was nothing within
t..e ...; would be the greatest liv-
ing figure outside the law, would