Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-07-14

I man emitted one TO q decent ana
honorable living has passed for
ever The world has no respect for
fine instincts; it pays its tributes
to fine gold.
l had intelligence; that / knew.
But in addition to a good mind
which had never been used-I rad
only a gift for Straightforward, as
siduously cultivate during my
youth That contemplate accom-
plishment, however, had been stuff.
cient, coupled with a quick wit, to
enable me to do what a supercrook
had failed to achieve.
Yet, with all my contempt for the
intelligence Of the police, l had
vowed that / would, if possible, con-
fine my efforts to fields in which
the police had no concern. l would
rob thieves. But here, at the very
outset of my new career, / found
myself planning to steal from one
who was not a thief. Pride entered
into the affair. Kernochan and
IVantine thought me a wealthy fool
who could be rocked with impunity.
] would endeavor to show them that
they had been mistaken. And in
furtherance of that endeavor,
made a call upon Mrs. Henry
Adams.
found her in a modest board
inghouse on Beacon Hill. I intro
duced myself as one who planned
writing a book on historic jewels
Two days of hasty reading in thc
Public Library had qualified me to
! speak learnedly upon the subject Of
precious wisely enough, at
least, to deceive any but a jeweler
| Furthermore, as l explained to Mrs
Adams, my book was to deal with
the romance Of jewels, rather than
with technicalities.
But why come to me, Mr.. Aims
ley?" she asked.
'You are the owner Of the Grand
Dukes ruby" l replied.
Not any longer" she told me,
shaking her white head.
l assumed an expression of sur
prise. Il understood that your hus-
band had acquired it" said l.
'"fhat is true; but since my hus-
bands death, the stone has passed
from my possession" she Informed
me. Then, in response to my ques-
tioning look, she told me the things
that 1 wished to know. 'My hus-
band and I, Mr.. Ainsley, have all
ways been simple people, We never
expected to own such thing as the
Grand Dukes ruby, and we acquir-
ed it almost accidentally. My hus-
band was a broker. He was m
italy, arranging for the flotation Of
some Italian bank-stock in this
country. While there, he met the
: Duke, who was in great need of
money. He wished to sell the ruby,
and experts assured my husband
That the price, one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, was hardly
half the jewels real value. Ny
husband had considerable cash
available at the time. 1t looked
like a good investment, and so he
bought it. But neither of us ever
intended that l should wear it. |
am afraid, and she smiled whiln-
sically-"that am not the type of
woman who could successfully wear
such a ring
l agreed with her, although /
protested otherwise. But she laugh
ed at me.
Il am a simple countrywomar.
Mr.. Ainsley. I never could be a
grand lady, and never wanted to be
one. And Henry, my husband, was
a countryman. In search of a liv-
ing, Henry came to Boston when he
was boy; he always hoped to save
enough to buy farm. You know
now those things are. By the time
Henry had ten thousand dollars. he
| was involved in business. By the
time he possessed one hundred
thousand, he was more deeply IN
Volved in affairs. Then, when his
fortune amounted to more than a
million, his entanglements were SO
great that his withdrawal from bust
ness might have injured scores. of
other people. We bought the farm.
but how seldom we saw it! Ard
then, just before he died, he de-
termined definitely to get out Of
the city. don't understand bust
ness, Mr.. Ainsley, and so I cannot
tell you just how it was that
Hemy's estate, which had thought
to be worth at least three million.
collars, amounted, when all the
claims were settled, to less than
twenty thousand.
"But he had entered into some
sort of an arrangement with an
other broker named Kernocbon.