Henderson daily dispatch., 1936-05-13
CHAPTER 80

AT FIRST glance the likeness 81
Pietro to Manuel was little short OF
amazing. They were both the same
height. the same build. and the con-
tour of their faces was similar But
there the similarity ended. Whereas
Manuers eyes, his whole face was
alert. alive. Pietro's was sleepy. in
dolent, careless, unntelligent.
What Manuel said about Pietro's
speech. too. was correct 1t was
broken English he spoke. and l don't
think he was putting it on. AS it was
very hard for Reyes to understand
him. 1 acted as interpreter and spoke
to Pietro in Spanish.
He had a long session with us. An
uneasy one. too. not entirely due to
the uncomfortable chair. When he
was sent away. finally. in charge of
two burly policemen. we were not
much wiser. Either Pietro was nor
mally. naturally an astute. clever liar,
or he knew nothing about the Cam
den ruby. He stuck to his original
sway him.
The ruby which he had brought
TO America struggled in the lining
of his derby hattie hat he was so
debonairly wearing still-he said he
had bought about week before ne
sailed on the Garcia, small steamer.
An old man, seeing him flash a roll
of bills Manuel had sent for his fare,
had approached him in wine shop
with the stone. The man was a
beggar in Madrid. Pietro. thinking
he could make money on the jewel
in America. paid the old beggar the
equivalent of 100 American dollars
for it. He was sure Manuel could
help him sell it. This tremendous
expenditure left him strapped in
Madrid and as he did not have time
to cable his brother for more money,
he took a smaller boat than he had
planned. the Garcia. and came steer
age. 1t was worth it. He now had
q fortune. Originally he had planned
to come on a big boat. second class.
and enter America as a gentleman.
He never had been in America be-
fore. and had written to his brother
for year for passage money. Man.
uel was rich. had influential friends
"a great power in this new country.
He thought the jewel. on constant
urging on my part. might possibly
have been stolen. He didn't know.
He had paid good money for 1t. In
deed. he had bargained for it. Final
ly the beggar had let him have it.
He had never seen the beggar
again. A time he had had getting 1t
over. At Ellis island. he had waited
a month for the quota. despite all
his brother could do. If it hadn't
been for Manuel he would have been
returned to Spain, but he managed
the week before his time was UP to
hand over the jewel to Manuel. who
said that he had buyer for it.
Monday he was permitted to land.
due to the efforts of Manuel, for
there was still something the matter
with his papers. Manuel had to go
- friends in Washington to help him
Asked time and time again to give
a description of the beggar who sold
him the jewel. his answer was al
ways the same. An old man. ragged.
white haired. horribly wrinkled. The
man had whispered as he turned
over the ruby to Pietro that it was
a famous jewel. known as the Cam
den ruby. This meant nothing to
Pietro. He knew nothing Of it's his
tory. He had shown the ruby to no
one. not even his friends in Madrid
He dared not as he was afraid some
one Of them would steal it.
For some years he had been an
actor In small provincial troupe.
but a living was hard to make in