Show i T The Diamond i Episode eLthe Links of the the Chi Schemes m s of 01 Colonel 1 Clay Elay BY GRANT GRAN NT TALL ALLEN EN II Let us take a trip to Switzerland said Lady And any anyone one who knows Amelia will not be surprised to learn that we did take a trip to Switzerland Swit Switzerland Switzerland accordingly Nobody can drive Sir Charles except his wife And nobody at all can drive Amelia There were difficulties at the outset because we had not ordered rooms at atthe atthe atI I the hotels beforehand and it was well wellon wellon on In the season but they Ule were over overcome overcome overcome come at last by the usual application J of a golden key and we found our ourselves ourselves selves elves in due time pleasantly quartered in Lucerne at that most comfortably of European hostelries the We Ve were a square squar party part of four Sir Charles and Amelia myself and Is Isabel Isabel abel abet We e had nice bIg biff rooms on rn n the first floor overlooking the lake and as none of us was possessed with the faintest symptoms of that incipient mania which shows itself in the form of an insane desire to climb moui moun mountain tain heights of disagreeable steepness and unnecessary snowiness I will wiil ven yen venture venture ture to assert Wit all enjoyed our ourselves ourselves ourselves selves We spent most of ff our time true sensibly in lounging about the lake on the Jolly little steamers and when we did a mountain climb it was on the theRiel Riel or where an engine ngin un undertook undertook undertook all aU the muscular work for us m mAs As usual at the hotel a great many ma 1 miscellaneous people showed a n burn burning burnIng burning ing desire to be specially nice nica to us usIe If Ie you wish to see how friendly and charming humanity try being a n well known millionaire for tor a week and learn a thing Or r two Wherever Sir Charles goes hele heie he Ie sur surrounded surrounded surrounded rounded by charming and disinterest disinterested ed people all aU eager to make his hl dis distinguished distinguished distinguished acquaintance and all aU famil familiar familIar with several excellent investments or several deserving objects of Chris Christian Christian Christian tian charity It Is my business in life as his and secretary to decline with thanks the excellent investments and to throw judicious cold water on the objects of charity Even I myself as the great mans ai moner am very ery much sought aft an after r People casually allude before me to artless stories of or poor curates in Cumberland you knot Mr Ir Went Wentworth Wentworth rent worth or widows in Cornwall penni penn penniless penniless less poets with epics in their desk and young oung painters who need but the breath of a patron to open to them the doors of an admiring academy I Ismile IsmIle Ismile smile and look wise while I adminis administer administer ter cold water In minute doses but 1 never report one of these thee cases to Sir Charles except in the rare or almost almo t event where I think there is really something In them Ulem Ever since our little adventure will the Seer at Nice Sir Charles who Is constitutionally cautious had been even more cautious than usual about possible And as chance would have ha e it there sat just opposite us at table at the a fad tad of Amelias to dine at ta table table table ble she says sa she cant bear to tobe tobe tobe be boxed up all day in private rooms with too much family a sinister looking man with dark hair and eyes conspicuous by his bushy overhanging eyebrows My attention was first called caned to the eyebrows e in question by bya a nice little parson who sat at our side and who observed that they were wert made up of certain large and bristly hairs which he told us had been traced by Darwin to our monkey ancestors an ancestors ancestors Very pleasant little fellow tellow this fresh young oung parson on his honey honeymoon hone honeymoon moon tour with a nice wee wife a bon bonnie bonnie nie Scotch lassie with a charming ac accent accent accent cent centI I looked at the eyebrows e close Then a sudden thought struck me meDo meDo meDo Do you ou believe his own I asked of ot the curate or are they only stuck on ona a makeup disguise They The Therean really rean almost look like It U You dont suppose Charles be began began began gan and checked himself suddenly Yes I do I answered the Seer Then I recollected my blunder and looked down sheepishly For to say the truth had straightly en enjoined enjoined enjoined joined on me long before to say sa noth nothing nothIng nothing ing of our painful little episode at Nice Niceto Ice to Amelia he was afraid if It she once heard of it tt he would hear of it forever after What Seer the little parson in inquired Inquired inquired with curiosity I noticed the man with the over overhanging overhanging overhanging hanging eyebrows give a queer sort of start Charles glance was fixed upon me I hardly knew what to answer Oh a man who was vas at Nice with us last year ear I stammered out trying hard to look unconcerned A fellow tellow they talked about all And I turned the subject But the curate like a donkey let me turn it Had he eyebrows like that he inquired in an undertone I was really angry If IC this was Colonel Clay the curate cur te was obviously giving him the cue and making It much more difficult difficult cult for us to catch him now no we might possibly have lighted on the chance of ot doing so soNo soNo No he I answered testily it was a passing expression But this is ts not the man I was mistaken no doubt And I nudged him gently The little curate was too Innocent nt for anything Oh I see sec he replied nodding hard and looking wise Then he turned to his wife and made an nn ob obvious obvious face tace which the man with eyebrows fall fail to notice Fortunately a political discussion going on a few places farther down the table spread up to us and diverted at attention attention for a moment The magical name of Gladstone saved us Sir Charles flared flare up I was wag truly trul pleased for I could see Amelia was boiling over with curiosity by b this time After dinner In the billiard room however the man with the big bl eyebrows eye eyebrows ye brows sidled up and began to talk tome to tome to me mt If It he was Colonel Clay It was evident he h bore us no grudge at all for tor forthe forthe the J he had done us out of On the contrary he seemed quite pre prepared prepared prepared pared to do us out of most more when chance offered for he introduced himself at once as Dr Hector Mae llao merson inerson the exclusive grantee of ox ex extensive oc I concessions from the Brazil BrazilIan Brazilian Ian government on the Upper Amazon He dived into conversation with me at once as to the splendid mineral mIneraI re resources r rl sources l S of his Brazilian estate the silver sil sll silver ver yer the platinum the actual rubles rubies the possible diamonds I listened and mol smiled I knew what was coming All he needed to develop this magnificent concession was a n little capital It was vas sad to see thousands of pounds worth and carloads of rubies rubles just crumbling in the soil or carried away by the river for f r want of or a few hundreds hun hundreds hundreds to work them properly If It he hed d knew of anybody now with money mone to invest he could recommend him nay offer him hima a unique opportunity of earning say 40 per cent on his capi capital capital capital tal on unimpeachable security I do It for every man nian manDr manDr Dr Hector Macpherson on remarked drawing himself up but if I tools took a afancy afancy afancy fancy to a fellow who had command of off f i I r I iJ i J T I i i r I I I st I f I c cs s sI J 4 s FI 5 7 Y 7 tx 7 1 r I r y yv r X y yM M 7 r 5 1 i I I j I I 1 i I ready cash I might choose to put him himin himIn himin in the way nay of feathering his Ills nest with unexampled rapidity Exceedingly disinterested to you ou i iI I 1 answered dryly dr l fixing my m eyes e es on his eyebrows The little curate curate meanwhile was playing pla billiards with Sir Charles His glance followed mine as it rested for a moment on the monkeylike hairs False obviously false he remarked I with his lips and Im bound to confess I neer saw any man speak so well by b movement alone you could follow ev every every v very ery word though not a round escaped During the rest of that evening Dr Hector Macpherson stuck to me as close as a mustard plaster And Ind nd he was almost as irritating I sot got heartily sick of the Upper Amazons Amazon I have positively waded In my time through I ruby mines in prospectuses I man mantill mu tn till the mere sight of a ruby absolute absolutely ly sickens me When Charles in an unwonted fit of generosity once gave his sister Isabel whom I had the honor hon honor or to marry a ruby inferior stones I made Isabel change ch It for sapphires and amethyst amethysts on the iU u plea that they suited her complexion com complexion complexIon better I scored once inci incidentally Incidentally dentally for having considered complexion By the time I went vent nt to tobed tobed tobed bed I was prepared to sink the Upper Amazons in the sea and to stab shoot poison or otherwise seriously damage the man with the concessions and an the false falso eyebrows For the next three days at intervals he returned to the charge He lIe bored me to death with his platinum and md his rubies rubles He want a capitalist who would personally exploit the thing I he would prefer to do it all on his own account giving the capitalist pi ier ence debentures of his bogus company and a lien Hen on the concession I lis listened listened and smiled I listened and aud yawned I listened and was rude I ceased to listen at all ali but sill he droned on with it I fell ell asleep on In the steamer one day and woke up in ten tn minutes to hear him droning yet And the yield of platinum per ton was er I titled tilled d to be I forget how many pounds or ounces or pennyweights These details of assays have havo ceased C d o 0 interest me like the man who believe in ghosts I have seen too many of them The fresh faced little curate and his wife however were quite different people He was a cricketing Oxford man she was a breezy Scotch lass lasswith lasswith with a wholesome breath of the High Highlands Highlands Highlands lands about her I called her White Heather Their name was Brabazon Millionaires are so accustomed to be being beIng being ing beset by harpies of every description description tion that when they come across a ayoung ayoung ayoung young couple who are simple and nat natural natural natural ural they delight In the purely human relation We re picnicked and went n excursions a great deal with the V They were so frank In their young love and so proof against chaff that we all aU really liked them But whenever I 1 called the pretty girl White Heather she looked so shocked and cried Oh Mr Ir Wentworth Still we were the best of ot friends The curate offered to row us in a boat on the lak lake one day while the Scotch lassie as assured assured assured up she could take an oar almost as well as he did However we did not net accept their offer as aft rowboats exert an unfavorable influence upon Amelia s digestive organs Nice young fellow fenon that man Bra BriJ Brabazon bazon Sir Charles said to me one day daj dajas da daas dayas as we lounged together along the qua quay never talks about or next presentations Says hes quite content center t tIn In his country curacy enough to lice IKe upon and needs no more and his hili wife has a little litte a very little money I asked him about his poor today toda on purpose to test him These parsers are always trying to screw something out of one for their poor men In im ms imposition m position know the truth of the saying that we have that class of the population population population tion always with us Would you ou be believe believe believe lieve It he says he any poor at atall It atall t tan all an in his parish laborers and his one terror is that somebody will come and try to pauperize them If a philanthropist were to give WK me 50 today for use at Empingham he te said faid I assure you Sir Charles I know what to do with It I think I should buy new dresses for Jessie who wants them about as much muchas as anybody else In the village that Is II Isto Isto to say not at all aU Theres a parson for tor you ou Sey my boy bo Only wish we had one of his sort at Seldon Seldom He lie certainly want to get anything out of you ou I answered That evening at dinner a queer little episode happened The man with the eyebrows began talking to me across the table in his usual fashion full fun of or his wearisome concession con on the Amazons I was trying to squash him himas himas himas as politely as ds s possible when I caught Amelias eye e e Her look amused me mr meShe meShe She was engaged in making signals to t Charles at her side to observe the lit little little little tle curates curious sleeve links I 1 glanced at them and saw at once the they were a singular possession for so un unobtrusive unobtrusive unobtrusive obtrusive a person They consisted each of a short gold sold bar for tor one ann ana of the link fastened by a tiny chain chains of the same material to what seemed to my tolerably experienced eye a first rate diamond Pretty Pret big diamonds too and of remarkable shape brillian brilliancy cy and cutting In a moment I knew kne what Amelia meant She owned a dia diamond diamond diamond mond riviere said to be of Indian origin ori origin origin gin but short by two stones for the circumference of f her tolerably ample neck Now ow she had long been want wanting wanting wanting ing two diamonds like these mese to match her set but owing to the unusual shape and antiquated cutting of her two gems she had never peen feen een able to complete the th at least without removing an extravagant amount from froma a much larger stone of the first water The Scotch lassies eyes caught Amelias at the same time and she broke into a pretty smile of good hu humored humored humored mored amusement Taken In another person Dick dear she exclaimed in her breezy way turning to her hus hue husband husband band Lady is II observing your diamond sleeve links very fine gems Amelia ob observed observed observed served incautiously A most unwise admission If she desired to buy them Continued on Page 9 I I The Schemes of Colonel Colon l Clay layl Continued from Page 8 R But the pleasant little curate was too transparently simple a soul to take advantage of her slip of judgment They are good stones he replied replica very good stones considering not diamonds at all to tell you the truth best Ori Oriental Oriental Oriental paste My bought them after the siege of Ser for a few rupees from a who had looted them tram from f Tip poo peo Sultans palace He lie thought like you ou he had got sot a good thing But It turned out when they came cama cam to t be e ex examined examined examined by experts they were only paste It Is supposed they had even ims Im upon himself so s fine Is the Imitation But they are worth well say 50 shillings at the utmost While he spoke Charles looked at Amelia and Amelia looked at Charles Their eyes spoke volumes The riviere 1 was also supposed to have come coma from collection Both drew at once an Identical conclusion These were two of at the same stones very likely torn apart and disengaged dl engaged from the rest In the melee at the capture of the Indian palace Can you take them off orr Siri Charles asked blandly He spoke in inthe Inthe Inthe the tone that that indicates business Certainly the little curate answered an answered smiling Im accustomed to taking them off orr no noticed noticed noticed bean b n kept ept l In the th tam fam family ily By ever since the siege as a sort of valueless val valueless valueless ueless heirloom for the sake of ot the of the story star you ou know and nobody ever ev |