Year: 1872

IparenGly the greabeSt ease, and the


ring abstracted. As to the bulldog
he had, to use a technical phrase
much in vogue in the police-eourts,
been squared" by a peace-ofering
in the shape Of large piece Of liver,
and had given no trouble whatever;
the thief might, in fact, have got of
easily with his booty, had it not
been for what might almost be
termed an amiable weakness on ks
part.


Ona chest Of drawers in my bed
chamber stood q small Japanese
cabinet, of curious workmanship,
tbut of no great value. This attrac-
ted the attention of our friend, who
as he afterwards confessed, thought
it would please his little daughter
a cripple.


He took it, and the taking Of it
was his ruin. He had Quilted the
house in safety and was already q
couple of hundred yards from it,
when he was stopped by a police
man, whose suspicious we're excited
by seeing a shabbily dressed man at
so early an hour-it being between
two and three o'clock in the NOR
ning-hurrying rapidly through the
streets with a bulky parcel under
his arm. The robber was arrested,
and searched, and the ring found in
one of his waistcoat pockets.


In due course the examination be-
fore a magistrate took place; and
the prisoner was committed for trial
at the next assizes, being bound
over to prosecute. In the meantime
the ring remained in the hands Of
the police as usual. In about six
weeks afterwards the trial came OF.
1 was placed in the witness-b box and
testified to the value of the stone
and the circumstances under which it
had been stolen from me.


At the request Of the foreman of
the jury the wiring was handed to
him for inspection. To my infinite
surprise, one of the gentlemen in the
box after looking at it carefully for
a few moments, said quietly "This
stone is not diamond"


'sNot diamondP exclaimed the
Judge. "Are you sure, sir, of what
you pay?" he added rather sternly,
addressing the juryman who had
Ejust spoken.


Perfectly, my lord, was the re-
ply. am jeWeler, and / positive
ly assert that the stone in this ring
| (hOlding it up as he spoke) is not
diamond; although pretty fair i'm
itation."


The other persons in court, who
stated that they were dealers in
precions stones, confirmed his
statement.


All eyes in the assembly we're
now directed inquiringly upon me,
and felt that I was in danger of
being regarded as a species Of i'm
pOster-as a man, in fact, who had
pretended to be the possessor Of a
piece of property, and had been very
justly, though unexpectedly exposed.
The clear, gray eyes Of the judge, in
particular, were bent keenly and in
I-quisitively upon my face, and 1 felt
myself growing very nervous and un-
comfortable. However, assuming
a GOODNESS I was very far from feel
ing, quietly narrated the circum-
stances under which the ring had
been presented to my uncle, and had
subsequently passed into my posses
sion. When 1 concluded, had the
satisfaction of perceiving that had
been successful in convincing my
hearers that if there had been any
deception in the business, l at least
was no party to it.


The trial then proceeded, and re-
suited in the conviction of the bur
glar, who received a sentence offvs
years penal servitude. Before the
court rose, however, the judge direct
ed the officer of police, in whose Gus
tody the ring had remained previous
to the trial, to be placed in the WIT
ness box, when he underwent a
searching examination IS to the
measures which had been taken for
the safe keeping Of the ring.


The police sergeant's testimony
was fully confirmed by that of other
members of the force, and could
not but admit that apparently there
was not the slightest grounds for
suspecting that the ring had been
tampered with while in the hands
of the police.


When and by whom the original
stone had been abstraeted-fOr that
it had been substracted and the false
one substituted for it, I was con
vinced-I endeavored for some time,
but in vain, to ascertain; some Of
my friends, indeed suggested that
the ring had never contained a dis-
mond at all, but was in the same con-
dition as when presented to my un-
Gle by the rajah.


But this theory was, to my mind,
untenable; for, in the first place,
most Eastern princes are pretty
good judges Of precious stones; and,
IN the second, assuming that the ra-
jah could have been imposed upon,
the risk would have been too great;
for a discovery, at any time, that he
had been cheated, would, in all prob
ability, have cost tn offender his
head.


No! 1t was clear to me that the
stone had been either changed at
some time by one of my uncle's ma
tive servants, whilst he was in India.
or that the ring had been tampered
with during the many years it was
at his bankers. In the former case,
of course the loss was irretrievable;
in the latter, there was just a posi-
bility and no more, that I might dis
cover the thief therefore went at
once to my uncle's bankers, where,
at the very outset Of my inquiries, I
was met by an assurance on the part
of the manager that the ring had
been deposited in a safe to which
no one had access but himself.


TOsuspect gentleman in his posi-
ton was, of course, quite out of the
question, and nothing remained for
me but to resign myself to the loss
of the diamond with what philoso-
| ,,hrr 7 oouId