Show BY EY SCOTT CA CAMPBELL BELL I The T e Case ase of o t the e the Frail of f Ble Bleg F Author Auth The of Doctors Doctor Below s Secret the Dead etc ln Big Finger Royal o Y a Tiara Tara O g I D ger Copyrighted IOU 1905 by Street Smith I It was a close call for the blooming bauble theres no about that declared Jimmie Coleman the central office man with an emphatic nod If It Glendale been een too ner nor nervous nerous ous to sleep soundly and so 50 happened to hear bear one of the rascals in his daugh daughters reps chamber its Us odds the gang would have IUle cracked his safe and got away awn with the tho royal topknot r Mr lIr Felix FelL Boyd BOd puffed away at his i pipe and am replied without so much as looking Jool up from the documents on his hla desk upon which his attention chiefly cherty was directed Got one of them Jimmie did you OU say he asked absently So it appears nodded Coleman Glendale Glendal Im told recovered some of his Ills sand upon hearing the burglar He sprang out of bed with his revolver caught n a glimpse of or the ruffian by the dim hall light as is he fled down the stairs and sent an ounce of lead after atter him hm Trust a nervous man to do some something something something thing desperate when driven to It re remarked remarked remarked marked Boyd Indifferently Glendale must have hit the scoundrel scoundrel scoundrel drel for drops of ot blood were found on the hall carpet and the basement stairs st ir showing which way the burglar fled Got him did you say So Kennedy says hes the policeman police policeman policeman man on that beat He nailed a covey coming out of a back alley aile about there whose hose hand was covered with blood bl od I from a flesh wound in his arm ann Hos Hes Hesp f p the right man Im thinking yet et he puts f up a stout denial dental swearing that he went into the tho alley to escape from a aman aman aman man with whom he had been in a alight light and by whom he had been wound wounded ed Humph Fishy yarn eh 1 Decidedly So fo I think You got these facts ruts from rom Kennedy did cUrl you Yes TeL y replied d Coleman ashes from his cigar Kennedy jugged his man all right and the fellow will come before beor The court today t 4 Ni NiI I 1 1 It now Is odds that Glendale soon I will m come cane flying in lure here for my ser services services I vices Ices That so s Is he be on your list of clients cl r rhYe red Tes growled Boyd I never both bother er with this sort of house work how however however ever If I can avoid it it My labors below the deal dea line Une keep me busy enough Y Yet t some of these multimillionaires whom I serve sene seem Stem to think I 1 should have an eye ee out to protect even oven their spoons from petty p tty pilferers or stand watch at ut their basement doors to in insure insure insure sure By B the way Jimmie what sort of a bauble had Glendale In his keep keepIng keeping keeping Ing that he apprehended a burglary and could not sleep With which for lor the tho first time dur during durIng during ing the foregoing Mr 11 Felix Boyd Bod looked up from his papers and dis displayed displayed played more than a cursory interest in inthe inthe Inthe the story the central office man had ben been telling Before Coleman could reply however heavy steps stops were heard hurriedly ap approaching approaching the door of the Pine street office and Boyd quickly remarked By Jove I guess I was right Jim Jimmie Jimmie mie That sounds as if It It might be bemy bemy bemy my man manA manA manA A moment nt later late the door was unceremoniously unceremoniously opened and a portly gen gentleman gentleman gentleman noticeably pale and excited hurriedly entered Ah Alt youre here Boyd he ho cried abruptly Thank God for that I want you at once Theres the devil to pay 1 depend upon you Boyd Get Into your our coat and hat and come with me ml Theres the devil to pay I 1 say the very devil Im half distracted Stop a bit Jilt sir Boyd quietly Inter Interposed Interposed interposed posed I should say Glendale Glendal that you arc are wholly distracted So I am Furthermore Suppose you sit down and calmly state your troubles But man alive Oh tut tut Im Tm not nol going any where whore till 1111 I know where I never go at things like a bull at a gate Sit down I 1 say and lets know what has hap happened happened happened oc oca y d a With which expressed with a mo mod that was like a wet blanket upon his visitors excitement Mr Felix Boyd struck a match and proceeded to re relight relight relight light his pipe Keep your chair Jimmie Jimme he added as Coleman rose to withdraw You know Coleman Mr fr Glendale Central office puff puff man One of the tho best puff men on the force and a par particular particular particular friend of ot mine puff puff put Often Otten require his assistance So keep your puff chair Jimmie Sit down Glen Glendale Glendale Glendale dale and puff puff now were off ocr What ails you this morning The last came through a veritable cloud of pipe smoke and Coleman hardly could suppress a grin The little of ot Mr Felix Boyd completely shook the excitement out of the tho sails sans of ot Mr Jacob Glendale and he now sat down like a 0 lamb Iamb yet et still as pale as before and with an agi agitation agitation agitation tation like that left on the sea after the sweep of ot a whirlwind Id damn you Boyd Blyd if I need you So badly he declared resentfully Boyd laughed Damn me later if it you ou like my dear Glendale but dont waste words and time over it now he cried Come to the business s at once If done in man fashion sir not find me slow to respond to your needs hats the tho th trouble These abrupt changes the sharper tone the keener glance the knitted brows the attitude of Intense interest all were characteristic of Felix Boyd oyd It was by such tricks as these that tl lt he checked or spurred others as the need appeared Glendale had in less than half a minute min mn minute ute been brought to a tolerable state of mind He was It may here be b stated the American Amerl an agent of by b far tar the largest larg largest largest est and wealthiest company engaged in inthe Inthe inthe the diamond mining industry in Brazil with vast Interests In the famous Mi mines Glendale had a mod modest modest modest est office In Maiden Lane from which he had just hastened in the excitement depicted depleted Trouble enough he quickly replied Y 1 r You know my business Boyd I am am m magent agent for a big Brazilian diamond con concern concern cern cem Yes yes I know all about that Come to the tile point Well Nell well dont hurry me In this fashion cried Glendale irritably You only stir sUr me all up I recently received a letter from my Rio Ro Janeiro house say saying saying ing they soon would ship me a valuable piece of jewelry for immediate delivery by me to the Russian consul here Mr Nicholas I 1 have seen this matter mentioned in inthe Inthe inthe the newspapers remarked Boyd with witha a curious squint Go on Mr Glen Glendale Glendale Glendale dale Tho The piece mentioned is a magnificent diamond tiara set with nearly one hun hundred hundred hundred dred perfectly matched yellow diamonds of or rare size and The Tho letter Ietter stated that the tiara then was as being manufactured by my m Brazilian house upon the order of several wealthy Russians Rus Russians Russians there by whom It was to be ho sent as a gift to the czarina In Russia j Certainly The piece being of great value worth about one hundred thou thousand thousand thousand sand dollars my house refused to send It direct to They preferred to send It to me In order that I 1 might make a careful examination of ot it be before before before fore delivering It to the consul to insure in insure insure sure that it was In perfect condition Evidently they aimed to be sure that It had not been tampered with I during transportation i Exactly Being responsible for Its safe delivery delhery they wished It to pass In I perfect condition out of the hands of their own wn agent myself Into those of I the Russian Rusian consul Their liabilities then would cease Mr having been Instructed to take charge of ot the jewel jevel here here and forward It to Russia I see nodded Boyd Those were the plans and You say were Mr Glendale Were yes Why Vh damn it Boyd Bod dont you understand The royal tiara has been stolen Stolen Great Jehu supplemented Coleman i Then the burglars got the bauble after all Burglars no cried Glendale ex excitedly No burglars got it The en entire entire entire tire affair is a mystery an infernal Hold your horses Glendale said Boyd sharply Time may be worth something in this matter Give Glye me mo methe mothe methe the precise facts of or which you are in informed informed informed formed They may be stated In a nutshell replied Glendale with nervous haste I I To begin with Im morbidly super superstitious superstitious superstitious about yellow diamonds I dread carrying them in stock and invariably in invariably variably have been unfortunate In all deals in which they figured Call it foolishness madness anything you like its all aU one to me I hate and fear far fara a yellow diamond as the devil hates holy water Naturally then I looked for trouble with this piece of jewelry from the moment I received that letter from Brazil Well Nell well Glendale come nearer home cried Boyd impatiently What about the tiara It was delivered at my office yes yesterday yesterday es esterday afternoon by an agent of the steamship company continued Glen Glendale Glendale Glendale dale I at once telephoned to Mr I Intending to Inform him of Its safe arrival but I was told that he was absent from the city and would not return until this morning From whom did you ou get that Infer Information Information mation From Miss Nolan the young lady stenographer in office She is his only a sort of private i i secretary and she stated that then the was in Boston and would woud be at athis athis athis his office about 0 9 o lock this morning Go on nodded Boyd attentively With his pencil however he jotted j down a few words on a blank block blockon on his desk That was the first with the infernal yellow toy and It served to greatly augment my misgivings declared Glendale I was compelled to keep the piece overnight I care carefully carefully carefully fully examined It assisted by my chief clerk Mr Ir Palfrey and found It to be beall beaU beall all aU right corresponding In every detail with the description mailed to me by my firm That was about 4 yes yesterday yesterday yesterday afternoon Well Nell well what followed asked I I Boyd quickly A tinge of color crept over ocr pale face as if the confession he was wasI I about to make was not much to his i fancy fane I I I As it drew near time to close my of flee said he I 1 felt more than ever nervous about keeping the tiara over overnight overnight I night It happens that the vault in my office is being repaired and so was unavailable The safety deposit vaults in which I 1 temporarily have stored all aU aUm my m stock of gems were also closed for forthe forthe forthe the day as well as the bank in which iI i 1 deposit I did not moreover wish with to trust the tiara to the vault of any busi bust business 1 I ness acquaintance possibly owing to toi tomy tomy i my superstitious misgivings and as us a aj ai j i j result of all aU this I fount found myself in inI J I quite a quandary quanda I decided that 11 I II must take the tiara home with me and j I keep it there until morning which Pal Pai Palfrey Pali I frey fre mv my m clerk advised me to do doGo doGo Go on I My exceeding nervousness led me to toI I have Palfrey accompany me home lest lestI I should be robbed on the way wa or be bethe bethe bethe the victim of some accident and he re remained remained remained at my house to dinner You I will appreciate my feelings Boyd Bod I am sure when I reveal the step I took a 1 little later I 1 dreamed several nights ago that my house had been robbed and that I woke only to find it as bare and empty as when delivered by its builder All AU this combined to render j i ime i me so nervous and apprehensive Stop a bit Glendale Interposed i Boyd I 1 easily can appreciate your our state of mind Keep closer to the point I I beg you To what step do you re refer refer fer While discussing the situation with ith Palfrey later in the evening I was struck with th the Idea that it would be bea bed beda I Ia a good scheme me to have him take the I tiara home with him and lock ft It in his I safe until morning l Merely for the reasons you stated C Well I had in mind too the too news newspaper paper items regarding the tiara which Wh have stated most of the facts about It ItI I reasoned that if these item items had h d been read by any rascals who also knew that my office vault was WM useless they might infer that I would bring the tiara home with me and possibly pos would burglar burglarize ize my house in the hope of securing it Humph grunted Boyd From what Coleman Colman has told me I reckon you OU hit the nail on the head Never mind about your burglary Glendale Go G on about you ou and Palfrey What did you finally decide upon doing j We Va sat in my library discussing the matter until nearly 11 eon con continued Glendale I r have no safe in my house but Palfrey has a very ve fine one at his I felt absolute confidence in him moreover for lor he ha has been in m mi i my employ for nearly twenty years and I have hse known him from boyhood My Iy idea was to get the tiara out of my house and into the keeping of one whom none would suspect of having it charge in I see Finally Palfrey consented to com corn comply comply ply with my request and he took the tiara home with him with the under understanding understanding understanding standing that he should take it direct directly ly to the office of the Russian consul at 9 this morning Without coming to your office Precisely nodded Glendale There was no occasion for that About half hal halt past t S 8 this morning Palfrey called me up by telephone at it my house saying I that he be still sUII had the tiara all right and anCl that he then was about starting for for office with it I told t K go ahead and deliver it to the Russian ard ald then see me at my office I Well queried Boyd curiously i Glendale exhaled a long breath Ill rather than well he cried ve vei When 10 came and an l Palfrey did not report to me I tele Continued on Page 9 t J f 1 f 1 ON THE TRAIL OF OF BIG FINGER J I Continued ContI d from Page 1 phoned phon d to office omee to ask If It my clerk had been timie I could get no answer The hc operator at the central station slaton could not get gt his telephone telephone I instantly feared fere something wrong and andI I J rushed to office fortunate fortunately ly meeting him just as a he arrived I And then ten Wo We found his office door locked and and the office vacant vant No Palfrey no sten stenographer stenographer no tiara no anything aying While we wo stood nonplused and dismayed however 1 9 Nolan hurriedly en entered entered I f fAh Ah Ab his stenographer J cried cred Boyd Her story settled matters contin continued continued str mater Glendale excitedly She stated that a a gentleman had entered the office omco about 9 genteman and informed her that tat he had just arrived from Boston with wit Mr Ir who was wa his personal friend arid ax hat t was wa ill i at his rooms moms roms and wished Miss 1 ss Nolan to come up there at once to take down a few The strangers story stor was so plausibly told that Miss Nolan was completely deceived She could not reach by telephone as he has rooms with wih a family of friends and she at once made ready and de do departed departed parted And not finding at his rooms She hurried back bak to the te office And now informed of at all al the facts fact is like a crazy cry man added Glendale wildly He swears sear that the tho whole af at affair affair fair is a job that the te tiara tiar has been stolen that Palfrey is |