Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-13
By
E. PHILLIPS
OPPENHEIM
Copyrisht, 1879, b. North Amer:
feen Newspaper Alliance and
NetroDolitan Newspaper eerv-

a quarter Of an hour. and the house
was blown up by an internal machine
directly the police got inside"
THAT was Joseph" he gasped.
Joseph beyond a doubt" answered.
"EIe had been there. So, I believe, had
your niece"
Scotland Yard has got the gang
''They are going for them at once
perhaps tonight. That's why Joseph
didn't mind so much his East End hid
ing places being given away. Inspector
Bloor's been working cautiously, but
street by street, house by house almost,
he's got them where he wants them.
They are cornered down there, and
Joseph knows it,"
Martin Hews' eyes glistened with
hate.
"If I were q man like Others" he
muttered, I'D make myself like one of
these accursed wolves. I'd creep from
hiding place; I'd beg and steal and
lie; I'd go to prison and come out
again. I'd find Joseph"
One Of the telephones on the desk
tinkled gently. obeyed Hews' gesture
took up the receiver, and listened.
"Isaacs is speaking from Grafton
street-urgent, he says" announced.
There was a sparkle in Martin
Hews' hard round eyes as he took the
receiver from me. His expression as
he bent over the instrument was almost
ecstatic.
Listen, Isaacs," he said, when he
had heard all the other had to re-
count, with this. have finished. You
can go back to your beloved Hungary,
| and you shall take your fortune with
you. You succeed this time, and you
need make no further effort. I mean
1t, The time has come. Succeed,
IsaacS, and you are rid of your burden"
There was excitement at the other
| end OF the wire. could tell that,
though my employers answers grew
cooler all the time.
In two hours" he announced,
"Owston will be with you. He Is Just
the man you want for this job. You
will then act. Don't hesitate. To-
night"
He leaned back in his chair, and !
stared at him wonderingly.
DIVISION" he declared. "for a few
| minutes the sterner things Of life are
to be forgotten. Come with me-"
He wheeled his chair TO distant cor
ner Of the room and stopped against
the wall. The panel rolled upward, dis
closing q miniature safe let into the
wall. With key attached to a gold
bracelet underneath his left cuff he
Of keys-three in number.
Follow me-" he directed.
The first key, with the help of an
electric button, unlocked the door
close to us. We passed into a cor
ridor, dinly lit, because it was win
dowlesS. Then my guide opened another
door, and we were in a gallery. He
touched a knob in one of the panels
and lights famed out from the ceiling
and walls. followed him farther into
the room, and a sense Of wonder kept
me tongue-tied.
had once visited what they told me
was the most wonderful bazaar in
Cairo, where had suddenly been con-
fronted with the accumulated objetS
dart of a great mercantile house, added
to month by month from every quarter
OF the world. This treasure house OF
Martin HewS was reminiscent of that
/ visit, but there was everywhere appar-
ent a greater and finer sense of re-
straint. One could tell that an almost
passionate love had gone to the ar
! rangement Of its sacred contents.
walked q little farther into the room
Martin HewS in his chair moving noise
lessly by my side. I had no words. but
it seemed to me that he approved my
silence
Here you learn, If you have the wit
to discern it, my young friend" he
said, the secret-the major secret
the passion of my life. Man is born
either q hunter, a lover or a treasure
seeker. Perhaps fortunately for me,
he added little bitterly, II was born
among the latter. Forty years of care
and toll, danger and perseverance, be-
sides the expenditure of a great for
tune, have brought me these. Every
one has come to me with thrill, every
one has brought me its need of joy
What matter, think sometimes, if
die tomorrow? I shall have known
happiness such as few others are capa-
BILE of feeling, and II fear death
Owston-and there are times when
shrink from tit Is not because there
Is anything in life itself that calls OIL
holds It is the leaving these. ThG
Madonna who smiles at you there, from
| whom day by day you could learn q
new lesson of beauty, was painted If
1919 by Raphael All, you recognize il
| perhaps. Yes, 1t was stolen, admit
1t was stolen first from Versailles ir
the time Of the revolution, and after
ward from the Pizzio collection. Per-
hapS you recognize my two Greuzes
that Claude Monet, the clevereSt de-
tectiveS in London and Paris searched
for in vain. See the Golden Horn anC
Temple of That's. Look at that Buddha
Eleven men were killed in the attempt
to regain that. The scroll in that baS-
ket Of gold with the jade sides Is par
of the manuscript of Confucius, traced
by his own hands. Look at the parch.
VTaAY1t Wa 1{vnod iv, lnV1er otter fho1
was fashioned. 49,
What do you love best? Pictures
bronzes, jade, tapestry? Tell me, anc
I'll show you something that the worlc
cannot match. Pictures" he went on
interpreting my half-muttered reply
Good! Here Is variety for you. YOU
see that panel Of yellow satinwoodi
Look at the images. The dairymaid ir
gala costume, the fine lady in her court
dress, the gallant who dances with her
And this Gainsborough. Forty-f1ve
thousand guineas they asked me for thai
at Christie's. didn't buy it, Owston
It was Donkin'S first exploit. Cut from
the frame it was, as neatly as though
by electricity. It hung here six weeks
after they had refused my cheque al
Christies for 10000 guineaS.
This is my temple. This Is the poo
into which have emptied my life anc
soul. Men have robbed or stolen OF
killed for love or jealousy or power.
for what you see."
It is not too much to say that wa:
stricken with something like awe.
walked along the carpeted passage much
as though I were wandering in some
sanctuary. Actual life seemed to have
fallen away. I was the victim of &
species Of enchantment. Martin Hew:
0liHaH Gi1AYt1V tn side
Come" he enjoined. LESS than 6
dozen men before you in IL years have
crossed this threshold"
We passed out together. He locked
the doors and replaced the keys. Silent.
| " he made his way back to his place