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Show wfer J P ft.. -- .jy, A Metallic Click Broke the Suspense. CHAPTER XXIV. Brit Showt Hie Hand. Following the talk hut ween Hrltx and Manning In the office of the chief of detectives, tho lieutenant hastened to hie own room, where Fitch wae awaiting him. He excused himself to the physician and entered a telephone booth at the far end of his office In which he was accustomed to conduct hl more private wire conversations. Through the glass of the silence partition. parti-tion. Fitch saw the detective's eyes sparkle as he listened to what the man at the other end of the wire was saying. While Hrltz still was talking. Manning came In, glanced Inquiringly at the doctor, and settled himself In a big chair as If for a further and more protracted Interview with his able lieutenant. "How does It look to you, doctor, now?" said the Chief of Fitch, eyeing him closely meanwhile. "It looked for awhile as If we had run Into a hornets' nest," Fitch answered. an-swered. "Pretty exciting experience you bad 1 uptown, eh?" The Chief laughed. j "Well. Just a little," said the doctor. I "One doesn't expect to encounter a j cobra In a well-regulated brown- ! stone front." j "Think the hunt Is getting any closer?" j "Hrltx seems to think so. His opln- j Ion carries weight with me." "No doubt. In your mind, he will catch the thlof, then?" asked the v Chief. "Thief, or thieves," said the medical man quietly. "I am convinced he will j run them down soon or late, If they're ' anywhere on the face of the earth." "Thank you, doctor," Hrltz Inter- j rnpted, coming out of the booth. "Your confidence Is not misplaced. J The thieves are as good as caught now." Manning looked up with nn air of surprise. "Yes," continued HrltJ!. addressing . his chief, "I've Just been talking to J Cordon. Had him out all day on a 1 special trail. Turns out to be the right lead. We know where tho second ' batch of thieves can be found after the next hour or so." "Where are they?" asked Manning eagerly. "I'll take you to them, Chief." nrlts replied. "If you don't mind, I'll ask you to wait a little whiie until I can do so. Meanwhile, let's gather up the loose ends." "Do you mean you have solved the Mlssloner mystery?" Fitch Inquired, trembling slightly as be reflected what the answer might mean to the woman of bis heart. "There Isn't any mystery now," Brit 1 responded cheerily. "There hasn't been any In my mind for several sev-eral hours " "Let's have It!" exclaimed the Chief Impatiently. JiiHt for an Instant Hr It z stiffened under his excellently controlled exterior. ex-terior. He believed In discipline Ho was known favorably to tils siitiors from the commissioner down for the obedience and respect be always showed them. Hut there lurked b neath his departmental sense of duty the independence of a man who felt he could always stand on bis own two feet, and that he could work alone, If need be, to accomplish the Most dlffl-cult dlffl-cult task. His impulse of revolt hinted hint-ed scarce a serond's space, however, and with a military salute that er-haps er-haps was meant to remind him of Manning's rank, be slid Into tils revolving re-volving chair and looked Intently at first one and then the other of the men. who waited tensely for his words. (TO HB CONTINUED ) sloner had not cultivated In this part of the world. He waited until she was close to the hearthrug before he turned, and said with a profound bow: "Madam, my Intrusion Is excused by the fuct that I can restore your Jewels." "Is It possible!" she exclaimed. "It Is more than possible. It la a fact accomplished," he answered. Taking from an Inner pocket a paek-Rge paek-Rge in silk tissue, he extended It toward her with the words: "You will find In this parcel, madam, all the diamonds of your necklace, with the exception of the largest the Maharanee." "Hut the big diamond of the whole necklace the Maharanee!" cried Mrs. Mlssloner. "How did you And these and not And that?" "I have not said that ! did not recover re-cover It." said the Swaml. "On the contrary.' I confess to you that 1 gained possession of the Maharanee at the time when I got these; but It must not, cannot, be restored to you." "I am grateful for what you have done," the widow said gently; "but I im unable to understand your attitude atti-tude In regard to the mlsBlng stone. Why should I not have that, too? It Is mine." "Madam," said the Oriental, In tho courtliest way, "I would not for the world say anything to disturb your faith In your husband. There Is no Deed of doing so. Your faith Is warranted. war-ranted. Mr. Mlssloner, when be said that, thought he was telling the truth. I'nfortunately for you, as well as for many others, he was not speaking the truth. The renegade who sold that )ewel to your husband did not buy It from a Maharanee. He did not buy it from anyone. He stole It!" "Stole It!" the widow cried, with a little wall In her voice. "Impossible!" "Pardon me once more, madam. It Is so far from belnir Impossible that It Is the strict truth. Nor was the 1 theft the only crime of which the man 1 was guilty. In stealing that Jewel, he 1 committed a dreadful sacrilege." 1 Mrs. Mlssloner was so overcome by her emotions that she was obligod, in 1 spite of her Intention, to sit down, 1 and therefore to extend to her visitor 1 an Invitation to be seated also, before I she could get herself well enough in 1 hand to follow the Swaml's narrative ' calmly. "That diamond." continued the sage, ' "once blazed In the forehead of the ' great Huddha, In the Temple of Ielhl. ' It was revered by thousands, hundreds ' of thousands, by millions, as the most 1 sacred work of the god; for tradition 1 says It was the undisputed proirty 1 of Huddha himself when he walked the earth In his latest Incarnation." Mrs. Missloner's Hps were parted. ' Her eyes were fixed upon the Oriental's Orien-tal's in the Intensity of her Interest. J!fln night," the sage went on, 1 "when a band of militant priests as- ' signed to guard the shrine of Huddha 1 In the great Delhi temple relaxed Its ' vigilance, a sacrilegious wretch on 1 whose head be all the curses of all 1 the centuries! made his way Into 1 the heart of the sacred building, and ' wrested the diamond from the brow 1 of the god. That he was not blasted ' In his tracks by the lightning of divine wrath proves that the mind of the 1 god at that moment was shrouded In meditation for the benefit of his chll- dren. The stone was missed at dawn. ' Within the hour, armed men were 1 scouring the city for the apostate ' thief. No trace of him was found. The Maharajah of that kingdom, lax though he had been In certain ob- ' servances of the faith, was too true a son of the Temple to let the careless priests go unpunished. Ry bis order 1 they were seized, a hundred of them, t and thrown Into prison. A royal de- 1 17 SYNOPSIS. The storv opens with a ei-renm from Tritliy Mimli In the opera box of Mr. Mlssloner, a wealthy widow. It Is -rasioned when Mrs Misslonrr'a neiklme brruks, seat lerltia; tie diamonds all out the floor, urns Urlswold and Unix ton Hands, eoilety men In love wltli Mt. Mlssloner, Mls-sloner, gather tip th items, tirmwolil Step on what l supposed to be the celebrated cele-brated Maharanee hiiiI (rushes It. A Hindoo Hin-doo declares II was not the genuine. A" rxs-ri later pronounces Hll the stows substitutes for the original. One of tint missing tllnmonil la found In the room if Klinor Holroinh, confidential ciimpan-Imi ciimpan-Imi of Mm Mlsslimer. Hhe l arrested, notwithstanding Mrs Missloner's belief In lor Innocence. Selective Hiiti takes lip Hie case, lie k the co-operation of lr rilih, Kllnors name. In running down the renl rrlniliml llrlts li'imis that (Iiilii-uifM of Mr MlMlom-r's diuinotoln w.-r nmdn In I'urle on tin- order of KHnor llolromh. W hlh- wnlkinit lirll Is eelnd. bound and saKKed by Hindoos, tin Is linprlHoin d In it d. Berteij holme, but 111 h km his rsi-apn. Hrlls dim-overs n In- smut dinniond expert whom lie believes whs employed liv either HiitoU or ilrls-woht ilrls-woht to iniiKe ((Mriil.Tf.'lls of the Mlssloner Mlsslon-er ttciii. Two Hindoos hurKlnrUe the home of Hands ami ure ruptured by ISrllx. On one of them he finds m note sinned bv ' Mlllh em" and addressed to "Curtis " Hrltx !' at. s h. womnn luinied Mlllleent I leluriK he, to whom (irlswnld has been psvlnif miirked Ktieniloiis The Hwitml intends in-tends a hull at Mrs M isaloner's home, but Immiii muhliiir further about the diamonds. dia-monds. Hrlls illsKiilseil ns a thief, visits (be nparimeiit or Mlllt. '.'ill. He finds a box that 11111 e ronliilned the nilmlnu ilia-morula, ilia-morula, but It Is empty. The deteftlve rem hides thnt I lie Hindoos have antli'l-pated antli'l-pated h ' 111 In the rerovery of tho Jewels, lie visits their quarters and has an exciting- experience Willi a snake. CHAPTER XXII Continued. True enough. The fifth bullet had passed between the gaping Juws of he reptile and tuken off the greater part of that durtlng scarlet thread i neatly as a sharp Instrument could nn IT a candle. While the wound loulilloKH caused agony to the snake, t did not lessen Its anger. The pol-loN-chtrgcd fangs remained In l' i:oiiih, and the cutting off of Its (iiigtm swelled Its fury to the ultimate igree. llrltz (Implied tho pistol on the chlf-(inl'T chlf-(inl'T and thrust bolh hands In hl sockets. "Cp a tree for fair," he said. "Noth-rg "Noth-rg more doing In the artillery Hue." "That was your lust cartridge?" Hrltz bent his head affirmatively. Vn expression of slow wrath gathered orco In the Headquarters man's face, 1 he stared at the swaying serpent tuch a short distance below. One :ould see he was angry enough to jikn tho desperate chance of spring-tig spring-tig from his perch and trying to itrlke the cobra with his heels, or, 1 'ailing that, selling It by the neck, teeklng to throttle It. The Instinct of elf preservation, however, was itrotiger than rage. Hrlti was willing 1 nough to risk his life In the fulfill- 1 rig of his duty, so long as the risk 1 neant a fighting chance to him. He 1 as too sensible absolutely to throw lis life away, and something told him : ;hat In spite of all the courago In the srorld. no man would have an appreel- 1 ible percentage of opportunity In a I latt'o s clime quarters with so yen- ' jtnous a serpent. Yet he must get 1 )ut of that house. He felt he was the 1 nly man on the police force who 1 jould be sure of heading off the Orl- 1 intals. In that very moment they 1 night be beyond the city's limits, i tearing the booty ho had pursued for pcks. It was more than his self-Mdse self-Mdse could stand. Ho gave rein to lis nper, and for the first time In all J10 doctor's acquaintance with him he , iwore hard and fast and long, ills : low of profanity stopped as suddenly is t had commenced. He drew one land from his pocket, and slowly, as ' he hardly dared to trust his senses, leld up his fingers an I looked at what liey clasped. Then he held the ob-ect ob-ect out triumphantly for the physician physi-cian to see. It was a loaded cartridge forgotten when last he emptied his sockets of their supply of extra am-iiunitlon! am-iiunitlon! "Weil make no miss with this one," sld the sleuth. "Don't you think you :an use It better, doc?" "No," said Fitch, "I am not In your class when It comes to snuffing out serpents' tongues. You may Ore when foil are ready, lieutenant" Hrltx grinned, shook the empty hells out of the revolver, slipped the full cartridge into one of the chambers cham-bers and twirled It until It paralleled the barrel. Then, once more using tils arm as a rest, he took careful aim, and was about to pull the trigger, when the door was flung open and the uniformed policeman stood on the threshold. "Well," said the bluecoat, "excuse me for butting In, but I thought something some-thing might have " Fitch checked him with an upraised band, and the patrolman's eyes almost al-most burst In their sockets as, lowering lower-ing his Rize. he saw the up reaching death covered by the Headquarters man's pistol. For a second's space, none of the three men moved. Then a metallic click broke the suspense, only to leave H In another Instant more taut than ever as all three realized re-alized the cartridge had misted fire. The bluecost's hand reached for his club. Panic-stricken though be bad bea at first sight of the cobra, be had the pluck common to the humblest member of "the finest," and he plainly plain-ly meditated taking the serpent from the rear. He would not trust to his revolver, lest his aim, spoiled by the intensity of the situation, should fly high and hit one of the two refugees atop the. chiffonier. Dut Grits saved the patrolman from what would undoubtedly un-doubtedly have been a foolhardy act of courage. Hastily breaking bis revolver re-volver open, be made a swift examination exam-ination of the cartridge, saw that Its rim was not dented by the hammer, and, concluding an accident for which the shell wa not to blame had prevented pre-vented an explosion, set the chamber once more, and fired again. This time a crack followed. The great cobra shot Into the air, and then fell squirming to the floor. Its colls unbent un-bent as at full length It writhed In Its death agony. Hrltz leaped to the far side of the table, seized a heavy book and hurled It on the serpent's head. That soon ended the reptile's struggles; strug-gles; but the doctor, brave enough under un-der ordinary conditions, was not content con-tent until with a dagger-like paper cutter cut-ter he snatched from the table he severed the snake's head from Its twisting body. Hrltx, Fitch and tho patrolman took deep breaths as they stood on the porch. The detective lost little time In recuperating, though, and after hurried hur-ried Instructions to the bluecoat, be and the doctor Jumped Into the coupe. The uniformed patrolman climbed to the box, turning the horse's bead westward. He drove the weary brute at high speed to a taxlcab stand, where the detective and physician entered en-tered a horseless vehicle In which they were whirled to Headquarters, win-re Hrltx had a short but important impor-tant conference with the Chief. CHAPTER XXIII. Mrs. Missloner's Visitor. Mrs. Mlssloner, after the ball, took In the fiiK-cnii of a bridge party, and stayed so late that when sho returned to her home the efiBt was striied with dawn, and the maid who had waited up for her was sleeping soundly In a chair. The widow was not yet disposed dis-posed for slumber. It had been an exciting night. Her fancy had been stimulated so greatly by her brief talk with the 8waml In the ballroom that she was unable to turn It from tho mysterious Oriental history of the Maharanee diamond. She knew no more of the Jewel's past than she had related to the sage, for her husband hus-band had not acquainted her with all the details connected with his acquisition acquisi-tion of It. Something In the Swaml's. manner caused her to regard the stono with more or less aversion. She began be-gan to doubt the purity of Its record. Fond though she was of gems, even to the point of being a Jewel worshiper, worship-er, she was American to her fingertips, finger-tips, and would shrink In terror from any bauble that came to her stained with the tiniest drop of human blood. She had loved her husband In a way; at any rate, she bad always re-iected re-iected and admired him. It seemed Impossible he would be a party to wrongdoing. Yet she could not shake off a sensation of dread whenever she remembered how Intimately the Jewel had nestled In the snows of her throat, mi rivaled the brightness of her eyes. Could It lie she had worn a gem whose fire was more suited to the glow of an Inferno than to the Kden of a good woman's loveliness? Drawing about her shoulders a soft, warm shawl, she took a seat at a window win-dow In her boudoir and sat gazing Into a sky pink and gray with daybreak, trying to solve her real feelings In regard to the recovery of the Maharanee Mahara-nee diamond. She was In the midst of her meditation when she heard the faint ringing of a bell at the other end of her big house. In a little while, a footman rapped on the door of her boudoir. It awakened her maid, and the girl, her eyes swollen with sleep, approached the widow with a card liearlng no name, but Inscribed with the message: "It Is important that I be iermltted to see you at once." At such an hour? Mrs. Mlssloner was astonished by the request. Who could her early visitor be? Surely no one In her own circle of acquaintances would venture upon such a liberty. If It were a question of life or death, there was still the telephone. Secrecy Secre-cy was indicated by the attempt of the person to see her face to face. Haste breathed In every word of the scholarly scrawl. Mrs. Mlssloner was not ultraconventlonal. but the request for an Interview at that time of dav an hour that almost might be called a time of night was beyond the scope of even her liberal views. However, curiosity conquered, as It has been doing do-ing In the cases of women, Jewels, and apples since the world began, and she Informed her maid she would see the visitor In the library. She controlled her ragernesa for understanding of the request, nevertheless, never-theless, so well that wren In a leisurely leisure-ly way she reached the big mora on the main floor, the visitor was ailresdy within It. He stood at a wlndd looking look-ing Into a street and shielding himself him-self behind a curtain from chance fiances As hll bead was bare. It was jot until the second glance that she recognized the Swaml. She was not only astonished, but startled by the recognition. What could this mysterious mysteri-ous student of the occult want with her? What could possibly be the object ob-ject of bis visit to her borne at such at hour? He was an old acquaintance acquaint-ance la a sense, but one Mrs. MLa- cree was promulgated, the effect of which Is that tione of those unhappy captives Is to see the light of day until un-til the diamond Is returned to Its place In Ruddhas forehead. The temple was draped In the mourning colors of the east, and those colors still deck Its lonely walls. No true believer's foot may be seen within Its portals while the great stone Is missing. The brethren of the priesthood languish In dungeons, hoping against hope that Huddha may manifest his mercy by causlpg the gem to be regained and replaced upon his brow. Untended, unworshlped. the god sits upon bis throne within the shrine, waiting for the restoration of his own." Mrs. Mlssloner was thrilled by the narrative. She was somewhat at a loss, however, to account for the depth of the Swaml's Interest In the reenp-ture reenp-ture of the great diamond, t'ntll he unfolded his story further, she did not know how personal that Interest was. "How does this afTect you?" she asked. "Why should you be at such pains to find and restore the diamond?' And to return these other stones to me?" "You will need no further explanation, explana-tion, madam," said the scholar, with utmost courtesy, "when I tell you that the priests who lie In that Kastern prison are my brethren." "Hut how Is It you are not among them?" "Hy a special dispensation of mercy on the part of the Maharajah," he answered. an-swered. "When five years, as you count them, had flown and still the diamond was missing when all the other servants of the kingdom had searched India, the rest of the Orient, and even Kurope for It, His Majesty relented far enough to direct that Hie Imprisoned priests choose one of their number to girdle the earth In quest of the stone. I, being the youngest young-est of the priesthood, was selected for the task. For the priests themselves, though prisoners of woe, are more concerned to have the stain wiped out than to return to the world from which they have been exiled. They rhose the youngest that the searcher might have as long a time as nature permitted to carry out the quest." The Swaml paused an instant, and then continued: "So you see that not only do a hundred hun-dred human Uvea hang upon the return re-turn of that single Jewel to the place whence It was "stolen, but that the faith, the religion, the very hope of eternity of millions of persons, are equally dependent upon It. I'ntll the gem gleams again In Huddha's brow, no prayer for redemption can be breathed with any hope of response In the most remote part of the Maharajah's kingdom. Can you wonder won-der that I would sell life Itself to achieve this task?" Mrs. Mlssloner did not wonder. She rlasped between her hands the packet containing the other stones of her necklace, and gazed dreamily into the fire. "What Is It. then, you wish?" she asked. "What can I do for you? Is It a question of a reward?" "Not In that sense," said the Swaml quickly. "I want no recompense for returning to you that which belongs to you. Those stones are yours. It would be as wicked for me to keep them, according to the light of my faith, as in the moral Intelligence of yours. Hut I do want a reward In a way. I ask your permission to return to my native land, and I request that you cause all further efforts to re-rover re-rover the big diamond to end at once." "How can I do that?" Inquired the widow. "The matter is now In the hands of the police. You can say truthfully to the police," the Swaml replied, "that your diamonds have been returned re-turned to you; that you are satisfied with the explanation of their disappearance disap-pearance that accompanied their restoration, and that you wish all further activity rn the part of the authorities to cease." "I will consider It " "I trust your consideration will not rover many hours," said the Swaml. rising "If you come to a decision quickly and a favorable one. you will avert a very strong possibility of bloodshed." Mrs. Mlssloner started. "The Maharanee diamond, as you call It. Is In the keeping of my colleague," col-league," the Swaml continued. "That man Hrltx. the detective from Headquarters, Head-quarters, who has been most active In the hunt for your necklace. Is dose upon his heels. It Is Impossible for my comrade to escape from the city unless you express a desire to have the police cordon now surrounding us withdrawn. lie will not give up the Jewel while he retains the slightest spark of life with which to fight for It. And neither will be stop at what your phase of civilization would call murder. mur-der. If it becomes at all necessary for the defense of th stone." A little shudder ran through Mrs. Mlssioner. "I will come for your decision at noon." said the Swaml. "It Is tie safest time for me to pass through the streets, as they are then at their busiest Think well upon my request. If you please, madam. I-et not the sacred stone go back to Its t brine with Western blood upon it " a Mr. Mlssloner Old Not Wonder. |