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Show rMSBssBssssMswsssswpssssMr "; imyrmtmmmn j&y) MARGIN BARBER, , rw,ly.fji,M..'M.,IWJM.i.i.lyiu .mil i i i .'jSlMg.y'K' "You Sent, huh, for Us, Chief." He watched closely the effoct of his words on the high-strung woman facing blm, and saw that he had touched a responsive re-sponsive chord. II'r eyes flashed as If her very soul vibrated with Jealous rose. I It breath came and went In short gasps. Ht r fingers twisted and untwisted nervously, and she seemed to bo on the point of a violent revocation revoca-tion when the situation was Interrupted Interrupt-ed by a knock on the door. Drltz, a flash of amusement In his face, walked to the door, opened It, and thrust his head out. Iu the corridor cor-ridor stood a man from the Detective bureau who said: "The prisoner, Grlswold. requests an Immediate Interview with Lieutenant Drltz." Drltz hesitated a minute, then said: "Ilrlng him In here," and then returned to Mrs. Ikularoche. "I shall not ask you to take my word for It, madam," he said. "I'll soon give you proof of the very best kind that what I have told you about Mr. Grit) wold Is true. Just sit over here In this alcove whore you cannot be seen from the middle of the room, and psy attention to what goes on." Shortly after that, Oriswold was brought into the room, and the lieutenant, lieu-tenant, his hands In his pockets, his Hhoulders squared, his features cast in an Iron mold, confronted the clubman. club-man. "How long Is this farce going to b kept up?" Grlswold demanded. None of that now, Grlswold. I'vs got the goods on you. The lens of that kind of talk you Indulge in, the bettor for all concerned. Mrs. Delaroche has told everything!" Grlswo'.d. Inquired sarcastically. "And what, pray, had she to tell?" "A great deal more than Mrs. Ml sloner knows," answered Drltz craftily. craft-ily. "Don't you mention that lady's nams In such a place as this!" exclaimed Grlswold with a show of chivalry that would have pone very well before I Jury, but which wae lost on such hardened hard-ened thief-takers as Drltz and Manning. Man-ning. "No harm In mentioning her name. Is there, when the lady herself will be here In a few minutes?" This time there was no simulation In the start Grlswold gave. He stared at the detective as If he doubted hli own hearing. "Why why you simply must not let her come here." said Oriswold again. "I would not have her see ni here for anything In the world. Can'l this be arranged somehow? Say. yol know I am not a poor man" Itrlts grinned at him. "Oh. I know you can't be bought. said Grlswold. "But this Is a serloui matter to me. It means my wholt future. I don't want Mrs. Misslonei to come here and see me a prisoner It will be different wben the cam comes to trial. I will have counsel then, and I can take care of myself, but Just now I'm helpless. Don't brini the woman here to make her lose all respect for me; oh, man. don't queei me!" Mllllcent Delaroche from the alcovi heard and saw all that pnssed between be-tween the men. She gripped the slerv der arm of her chair until her taper Ing fingers curving around it bit Into her pink palm. She watched the unmistakable un-mistakable agitation of the prlsonei until no doubt remained in her mind of his attitude toward Mrs. MUsloner. Then her rage broke through all restraint. re-straint. Casting the detective's caution cau-tion to the winds, she strode to tb center of the room and towered abovs Oriswold. as, thunderstruck at sight of her In his self centered pride ol what might happen, he had utterly forgotten for-gotten for awhile her presence in Police Po-lice Headquarters he moved uneasily uneas-ily In his chair. (TO UK CONTINUED.) deck, Drltz. Fitch and Manning, lcav-Ing lcav-Ing Gordon In charge of the captured Indians, surrounded the other two and disarmed thorn. Dreathlng heavily heav-ily from tho short but sharp struggle, the captors marched their prisoners to the far end of the cabin and seated themselves between the Hindoos and the doors. They were still on the alert to prevent an attempt to escape es-cape on the part of Kanonda or All. The other two Indiana being handcuffed, hand-cuffed, It was less likely they would make a spurt for liberty, but the policeman po-liceman took no chances. "Now, Mr. Kananda," said Drill to the Prince cheerily, "I reckon we'll hve thoBe diamonds." ' Perhaps you will be good enough to explain," parried the Prince with bis most blase Cambridge manner. "Explain nothing!" shouted Hrltx. "I've fenced with you fellows long enough. We've caught you now and we want the goods." "Since you are resolved to carry this miserable farce farther," said the Prince, "I suppose we shall have to submit." "You'll submit to a search, that's what you'll do!" interrupted Manning. Man-ning. "I don't blame you, Drltz, for Inning your temper with this crowd; fresh Is no name for it" The Chief nodded to Gordon and Hicks, and they began a search of the four prisoners that left nothing undone to find the diamonds. Wben they had examined every article of the Indians' apparel, from the Oriental Orien-tal costumes of tho low-caste Hindoo Hin-doo to the conventional attire of the Prince, they looked to Manning for further Instructions, for they had found nothing. Then all four of the detectives, with the Chief and the doctor, ransacked the cabin, fore and aft and from star-hoard star-hoard to port, as thoroughly as the Indian burglars had gone through the apartments of Grlswold and Sands. They even lifted the carpet on all sides, rolled the heavy furniture about, and prodded every locker. In vain. If the diamonds were on board the yacht, they were not In the saloon. Cordon went to the wheel, while Hicks, who had some knowledge of machinery, watched and regulated tho feed of the motor. Silently as a giant swan, and as smoothly, the yacht threaded the cut to the broader stretch beyond the Spuyten Duyvll creek and, passing under the long railroad bridge on which the famous little Dolly Varden train toddled from bank to bank, swung downstream In the Hudson and headed for the Mattery. Mat-tery. The yacht was off Grant's Tomb before an Idea occurred to Fitch, for which Drits not only gave him full credit, but blessed him heartily. x "See If any one of those men Is wounded, lieutenant." Fitch suggested. Itrlts and Manning looked the Orientals Orien-tals over, and made them walk up and down the cabin. The Prince halted slightly In his gait for an Instant, then recovered control of his muscles, and strode as steadily as his low-caste compatriots. "That man has the Maharanee.'j Fitch declared. "You'll find it In the calf of bis leg." Brltx seized Kananda by the collar and shook him savagely. "If you don't give up that diamond, your finish will be the operating table," said the detective. Kananda forced another laugh Hrltz. Manning, and Fitch seized him, and baring his k-g to the knee, searched for marks of a wound, Strangely enough, there was a little lump In the calf. The detective! looked at the doctor. "Here's a slight protuberance, doctor," doc-tor," said Hrltz. "I guess the rest Is up to you." Fitch took out a pocket Instrument case, and selected a tiny knife. Kananda, Ka-nanda, on the point of beginning an other struggle to escape, was choked and held powerless by Drltz and Manning. Man-ning. Gripping the Prince's leg firmly, the doctor worked his scalpel gently Into the small lump In the flesh a wound so recent that It had been bound together by pieces of court plaster tho color of the skin. Then he triumphantly extracted something which, though ruddled, sparkled In the gleam of the Incandescent lamps with which the cabin, despite the daylight, still was Illuminated. "The Maharanee diamond!" cried Drltz and Manning together. CHAPTER XXVI. Mutual Explanation. It was breakfast time, and Hrltz and Fitch after their exciting night were hungry enough to eat a Hindoo, but tbey did not stop to show consideration considera-tion to their Inner men. As be expected, Itrltz found Grlswold Grls-wold aud Mrs. Delaroche In the big reception room of the Detective Bureau Bu-reau with the detective who had arrested ar-rested them waiting ponderously near the door, and an Interested desk lieutenant lieu-tenant looked up from his work to hear the denouement of what Police Headquarters had corno to regard as the "star" case of tne year. Drltz walked slowly to his own room, where tho scowling Orientals were penned In a corner, while tho chief of the detectives and his two subordinates were taking well earned , rest In the lieutenant's t-nsy-chalrs. i Drltz talked to Manning In whispers. i then went to the telephone and called Mrs. Missloncr's house. "Good morning, Mrs. Mlssloner!" he said over the wire. "This Is Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Drltz Drltz, of Headquarters. I called you up to tell you we had ar- 1 rested the Jewel thieves and beg par- don? What did you say your Jewels I have been returned to you? That's strange. I have one of them In my ; pocket now. How's that? You say you have all your Jewels? Then whoso is this the Maharanee? Pardon me, Mrs. Mlssloner, I don't quite understand. i We have the thieves here and the biggest big-gest of the diamonds. What did you say you don't want the thieves prosecuted? prose-cuted? Why, really, Mrs. Mlssloner yes, of course yes, I am talking from , Police Headquarters' they are here now, all the thieves, lot No. 1 and lot No. 2. You aay you don't understand? ; Well, I tell you, Mrs. Mlssloner, per- i haps you bad better run down here. Yea, I know It is a great deal to ask, i but I have worked pretty hard to find your diamonds yes, day and night. i The Chief thinks It would be better If i you could arrange to come down. It won't take you long; you need not stay , more than five minutes. Oh, but you don't know who the thieves are; yes, you have guessed In part not alto-gether; alto-gether; but I think you'd better come down, Mrs. Mlssloner; you will be interested, in-terested, I am sure. How's that? Drlng Mr. Sands? Dy all means, If you wish. ' Yes, I will await you then you'll ' come? Thank you very much, Mrs. Mlssloner. Good-by. "Now. what do you think of that?" sold Drltz to Manning. "After all our work, Mrs. Mlssloner calmly Informs me that her Jewels have been re- 1 turned to her, and that she does not wish to prosecute the thieves. She ' says she Is willing to overlook their little deviations from the path of honesty, hon-esty, as she is so glad to recover re-cover her Jewels. I told her I had the Maharanee In my pocket, anil she Insisted In-sisted she had all her gems. What do you know about that, anyway?" Mrs. Delaroche was brought In by a private of the detective force, and Drltz, with elaborate politeness, bowed her to a chair. She was too angry to acknowledge bis courtesy, and she sat looking at the lieutenant and the Chief with flashing eyes. "Mrs. Delaroche." said Drltz. "I may as well tell you at the outset that the game Is up. We know all about your connection with this case, and the best thing for you to do is to tell us everything you know. Your friend, Mr. Grlswold. as you have seen. Is under un-der arrest. What do yon know about him?" "I shall answer no questions," said Mrs. Delaroche, "until I shall have had an opportunity to engage counsel." coun-sel." "Mr. Grlswold Is engaged to marry you?" 'Of course," the replied with an Indignant In-dignant flush. "Now. Mrs. Delaroche." Drltz replied. re-plied. "I'm going to tell you that you are the most mistaken lady In Manhattan Man-hattan Island right now. Grlswold Is not engaged to you; at any rate he doesn't understand that he Is." "What do you tti an. sir?" "I mean, madam." answered Prltx, "that Mr. Curtis Grlswold, though he engaged himself to marry you. has been industriously engaged for some time pat In attempting to become engaged en-gaged to another woman." Who Is she?" "She ts the possessor of many millions." mil-lions." said Brltx. "a woman of acknowledged ac-knowledged beauty and of undeniable charm. Of course, I don't undertake to say for a moment, madam, that ber attrsttvenes equals yours. Doubtless. Mr. Grlswold. being an enterprising young nisn. has eyes more to b r millions mil-lions than to her looks. Nevertheless, be ts a beauty." " SYNOPSIS. The story opens with a scream fr.on potothv March In th opera box of Mrs. miMliinrr, a wealthy widow. It U occasioned oc-casioned when Mrs. Mlssloner necklace break scattering the diamond all over the floor. t'urtia Oriswold ami Uruxlon Hands, society men In love with Mrs. Mlssloner. Mls-sloner. rather up the gem. Oriswold step nn what Is supposed 1' be the '.'1, brated Maharanee ami crushes It. A Hindoo Hin-doo declares It was nut the genuine. An enpert later tirntMiiin-'es alt the stones 'substitutes for the original. One fif the nilsKln diamonds la found In tlis room of J-.llnor Holomh. ronlld.-ntliil companion compan-ion of Mrs Mlssloner. She Is arreted, notwithstanding- Mrs Mlsslnni-r-s belief In her Innoren.e IwtecUv llrlts lakes tip the cane. Ita asks the ro-eprtln of lr Filch, Kllnors flan-e. In running donn the real criminal, llrlts learns that mitdtrates of Mrs Misaloner's ilhinmnils were mnde In l-arls on the order of KHnor llolcomb. While walking Hrlt Is selied. bound anil gasKed bv liltidieis. lie Is Imprisoned In a deserted house, but makes his escape. HrlU discovers an Insane In-sane diamond expert whom he believes was employed by either Han-Is or (Jrls-wold (Jrls-wold to make counterfeits of the Mlssloner Mlsslon-er gems. Two Hindoos burglarise the home of Hands and are raptured by Hrltx. On one of them he finds s note signed tv "M'lll.'ctit" and addressed to "runts." Jtrtts locates a woman named Mllllcent Jielnroohe. lo whom Oriswold bus been paving marked attentions. The Hwaml attends at-tends a ball at Mrs. Mlsalnner's home, but learns nothing further about th diamonds dia-monds Hrlli disguised as a thief, visits the apartment of Mllllcent. lie finds a box that once contained the missing diamonds, dia-monds, but It la emidv The detective con. hides that the Hindoos have anticipated antici-pated him In the re-overy of the Jewels, lie visits their quarters and has an ex-riling ex-riling experience with a snake. The Hwniiil returns all the real diamonds to Mri Mlssloner. except the Maharanee, which he Insists must be returned to the ten pie in India, w hence It wns stolen. J'-lS fives his theorhs to the chief l-f po-I po-I s. showing how Oriswold has devised t1 whole plot, placing tho hlamo on Dtlnor CHAPTER XXIV. Continued. "Oh, that was only a precaution on thtlr part. They took the chance 1 ni.-'it huve recovered the Maharanee, I ii;ii.;e. Maybe they expected to find In n y possession something that would -Ive them a clue to tho whereat where-at tuts of tho stone. Then, once they got me, they thought they might as well keep me out of the running until they got v. hat they wanted. It was no part of their plan to let me find the Jev-tU and turn them over to Mrs. Mlssloner." "You bad a close call there, lieutenant," lieu-tenant," observed the physician. "Close enough," said Drltz calmly. "Dut It's all In the day's work." As Drltz finished there was a timid tap on the door. In response to Manning's Man-ning's curt "Come In!" Donnelly and Carson crossed the threshold, and did their best to stand at case In front of the lieutenant's desk. "You sent, huh, for us. Chief?" "Yes." said Manning. "Lieutenant flrltz wants you to attend to a little matter for him." "Yes, Donnelly," said Drltz coolly; "If you have nothing better to do Just now, supposo you run up to Curtis GrlHwold's apartment, and tell him the Chief wants to talk to him." "Suppose he won't come." said Donnelly, Don-nelly, who evidently did not yet suspect sus-pect It was desired that the clubman be taken Into custody. ilrlng him, then," said Drltz. "You haven't forgotten how to show a gen-' gen-' tleman down to Headquarters, have you?" Donnelly winced under the lieutenant's lieuten-ant's scorn, and Carson turned gray. "And you, Mr. Carson." said Drltz. renewing his Instructions, "be good enough to take a trip to tho Hotel Renaissance, and ask Mrs. Delaroche to come down to see us for a little while." Carson, In the crisis, felt he could not be too precise. "Suppose she declines T' he asked. , 'Tiring her!" said Drltz. Fitch laughed aloud at the con-iternatlon con-iternatlon In the faces of the two detectives. de-tectives. It was manifest both Donnelly Don-nelly and Carson were so far from the facts In the mystery that not only bad neither of them dreamed of making ma-king a prisoner of Grlswold, that suave society man who had volunteered volun-teered so much assistance to tbem In their efforts to weave a web of clr-I clr-I cumstantiai evidence against Elinor i llolcomb, but that they were abso ' lutely Ignorant of the existence of such a person as Mllllcent Delaroche. They shullled tbelr feet with Increasing Increas-ing nervousnesa as they felt the eyes of their chief upon them. Itonnelly shot a g'anco of 111 repressd hatred at Drltz as the lieutenant, at ease In bis revolving chair, faced the crestfallen detectives with a satirical smile. Once or twice Ihnnclly essayed to speak, but each time he caught the frozen expression on the faces of the Chief and Drltz. and the words died in bis throat. Nothing remained save for the two brilliant crime-hunters to carry out the lieutenant's orders. As tbey turned to go their discomfiture was augmented by the real detective's detec-tive's mock solicitude. "You'll find It an essy Job, boys. Just ask the two of them to come down here quietly, and if they don't want to come, make 'em. Show them our ablelds, you know, and all that ort of thing." When they had gone, Prttx Indulged In-dulged bis amusement to the extent of a laugh; Fitch Joined blm, and Manning, after a brief attempt to keep bis face straight, also laughed heartily. CHAPTER XXV. The Attack tne Yacht. Briti, MannJng and Vuh waik4 briskly around the corner and bonrd-ed bonrd-ed at Dleecker Street a subway trafn. At Fourteenth Street they caught the first uptown Vaa Cortlandt express of the morning, and they made good time to Two Hundred and Twenty-fifth Twenty-fifth Street. There they left the train, and walked quickly along the edge of a grassy bluff . overlooking the government cut that now connects con-nects the Harlem and Hudson rivers by a more direct route thun the old Spuyten Duyvll creek. A few hundred hun-dred yards beyond the low fence that separates the meadow from the street they came upon a man standing close behind a large tree. He was screened from the little street and from the bridge that spans It by thick underbrush. under-brush. When he sighted Drltz he lifted his band wamlngly and beckoned. beck-oned. The three men went within the shelter of the bush. "Anything new, Gordon?" Inquired ; Drltz. "Yes." said the other detective. "Tbey havo gone aboard." "Where's Hicks?" "Down there near the water, piping them off." "Are they on deck?" "No, In the cabin; they seem pretty pret-ty busy, too." Gordon looked at the sky. It was growing brighter every minute. Stepping with moat solicitous ten-(leriiei-s on the grass, and avoiding every leaf and twig that might give forth a slight crackle, the four men mnde their way slowly among tho bushes to the spot where Hicks, lying at full length with his head only a little way above the ground, was waiting and, at the same tltnoT watching watch-ing a naphtha vaeht of more than ordinary sUe. Not a sound broke the sllenco of the early morning. The ground was bare of snow, the grass almost as green as in lale summer, and only the chill In the nlr and the nakedness of the trees Indicated the winter Reason. The sun was Just rimming the far shore of the Bound. A pioneer ray gilded the Spuyten IhiyvII headland, caroming thither from the crest of Marble II lit. After a whispered conference with Hicks. Drltz slipped his hand into a side pocket of his coat, and took oi something that glittered In the sunshine. sun-shine. At a single word from Drltz, Gordon and Hicks wormed their way along the bank until they were at the. bow of the yacht, Drltz, Fitch and Manning stayed near the stern. Suddenly Sud-denly the lieutenant fired a shot over tne yacbt that echoed metallically from the cliffs, and at the signal, all five of the attacking party leaped aboard the yacht, their feet striking the polished deck with a concerted thud that must have made those within with-in the cabin think they were feeling the first shock of a landslide. The five men on the deck gave those below little time for analysis of their sensations. Gordon and Hicks raced around the wheelhouse to the starboard side of the craft, and dashed down the companlonway from that direction, while Drltz, Manning and Fitch hurled themsolves Into the port entrance to th? cabin, alighting on a rkhly carpeted floor a dozen feet below the deck. Two shots followed before the police party could seize Prince Kananda and All. who, facing In opposite directions, stood at bay In the center of the cabin. Drltz and Gordon struck upward the revolvers of the Indians as the triggers were pulled. The bullets flew high, harming harm-ing no one. Dehlnd Kananda and All, using a table as a breastwork, stood two more Hindoos, both of them strangers to Drltz. They were unarmed un-armed save for wicked-looking Malay krlses they grlped nervously as they crouched In waiting for an attack. DrlU and Manning Jammed their pistols pis-tols Into the faces of the men with the krtses; but the Indians, undismayed, undis-mayed, made savage alashas at them with their razor-edged long knives. Gordon and Fitch sprang uon the krls bearers. Hicks with a pistol In each band standing off Kananda and All. Again and again the Hindoos slashed at their assailants, and thut they did not split at least one bead was due to the wary agility of the four who attacked them. Shots from the detectives' revolvers would have brought them down at such short range, of course; but the policemen seemed bent on capturing thetn alive, and Fitch was not a man to have ro-: ro-: course to bloodshed until he could be . certain It was Inevitable. Drltz and Manning waited their chance. After j futile swings at the Indians, they closed with them, clubbing their revolvers re-volvers and bringing them down with crashing force on the gaudy turbans of the Orientals. A few seconds of that vicious pounding stunned the Hindoos, and It was then but the work of a moment to slip handcuffs on them. Kananda and All. in the meanwhile, bad made no further attempts at-tempts to use their pistols. They read death In Hicks' eyes as be confronted con-fronted tbem with bis long, blue gleaming barrels aimed .straight at them. Tbelr hesitation was fatal to their hope of escape. For even as All. douUless at a whtsper or signal from the Prince, swung himself about to Interpose himself between Hicks and the petty potentate's son. while Kananda turned for a dasb to tb ' 1 f The Scowling Orientals Wsra Penned Center. |
