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Show I v-i I I Diamond Cut Diamond j '.V- - ... . . '. i i sa U i a 1' By JANE BUNKER i t'-, Copyright by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. CHAPTER XI. Continued. 11 I was obliged to spin some sort of a plausible yarn to save appearances, and when I banded him my letter with the dime and begged him to mail it for me I knew I was saved, But I have never yet attempted to count up the lies those diamonds cost me ! It was now a little after ten and there was nothing for me to do but wait and shiver. I began to think coherently co-herently to appreciate what monsieur himself would be getting into by calling call-ing the police or t he customs authorities authori-ties to help him steal Mrs. Delario's diamonds. And yet I saw perfectly he could do It I Where he bad her was that she'd smuggled the stones. He knew It I knew It Claire knew it. And If he were bold enough to steal them from her In just that way I wasn't sure but she was timid enough to let him do it. I suddenly remembered what George had told me about his renting the flat. "Why, the man was here before we were !" I exclaimed. "lie took a faster steamer he was all ready to carry through the job when we landed !" And wiili that I suddenly remembered another thing that had entirely slipped my mind : while our baggage was being examined or rather not examined and Claire was weeping and everybody every-body was flying round and asking everybody ev-erybody if he'd seen her mother an elderly man In a big fur automobile coat, the collar up about his face and his cap down over his brow a man with a flowing white beard and flashing, flash-ing, black, beady eyes a man on crutches had stood opposite us, watching. As I looked at him I had the quick impression that there was something wrong about him that he was there, perhaps, to steal from Hit' incoming baggage in the confusion The next moment my eye fell on a turquoise-beaded silpper hers of mine, I didn't know which that had fallen down between our suitcases. The old gentleman had his eye on it also. I saw his hand come out of his big pocket and reach, cautiously, slowly. slow-ly. My own hand shot out and grabbed the slipper from under his nose, and I gave him a double-barreled glare. I hadn't finished the glare when my cousin came hurrying to tell me to be quick, our baggage was through. I had, as I say, forgotten the whole incident, but THE MAN IN DISGUISE DIS-GUISE WAS MONSIEUR DE RAVE-NOL. RAVE-NOL. I knew it then he confessed it later; he had expected to get those diamonds into his clutches while they wtre actually going through the customs cus-toms inspection! I bounced out of my chatr with one glad whoop "Eureka "Eure-ka ! I have found it !" and pranced to my bedroom. I had the key to the whole puzzle "one of those slippers !" When I asked Mrs. Delario that afternoon aft-ernoon over the telephone how she got the diamonds through the customs house she replied, "One of those slippers slip-pers we got in Paris is lost." Those were the words -she said; what she really communicated was ". . . one of those slippers we got in Paris . . . is lost." The tones of her voice the significant pauses had been ignored by me then. But add "in" and drop "Is lost" and she answered my question ques-tion she told me as plain as plain could be that she had smuggled the diamonds through the customs house "in one of the slippers." Easy enough ! I snatched them from beside my bed. Easy enough wilh those high insteps. So that was how she did it ! Claire had been snooping till she found out where the diamonds were that was what her father sent her over for. But she was not to steal the diamonds dia-monds herself the risk of her being caught with the goods was too great that was her father's job ; she was to give the signal he was to get the stones. And why hadn't her mother met her, unless to create the confusion confu-sion for Mrs. Delario and me that would make it possible for him 6 turn the trick? Why had he come over by a faster steamer except to be ready for it? It's precisely what he did. I learned it all later. He came over ahead of us, passed himself off In disguise, and forged credentials as an Italian government gov-ernment secret service agent tracing an old master that had been recently stolen fre-f i one of the Italian museums and thai was known to be coining to America smuggled, of course in charge of a certain woMiafl, whom he knew 'jy sight. To carry out this yios.e he had al-ridj. al-ridj. met several incoming steamers and he was prepared to step up to Mrs, Delario, demand to search her baggage and then Okie turn of his baj,d and he couM have walked off wi.h her diamonds in his pocket, shed hW disguise and lei her whistle for ttem. Instead of tr.at he got a glare from me! one twist of my hand and 1 had "one of those slippers" he I'.idn't know which and he didn't dare w speak for fear I'd recognize him! And thus his vlinle plot fell to the ground also all my interesting oeeul1 mystery about three roa'ng slipper that toett the -v.all (if theii ewn accord il'ter thv't been si t bee' to the v.all i and then walked out of a locked flat and then came home and hid in my wardrobe. Monsieur had turned the slippers when he set them down hurriedly the suggestion of all the other slippers, toe to the wall, had been too strong for bis memory of three slippers heel to the wall after he had picked them up. That was his one inexcusable blunder in the whole affair it had set me watching. But Claire a thief! or the accomplice accom-plice of a thief! That high-bred girl that rare, accomplished child ! I couldn't believe it I wouldn't believe be-lieve it. She was acting in good faith whatever she did. Perhaps he had convinced her that the diamonds were his that Mrs. Delario was robbing him ! I felt it then the boldest, cleverest clever-est plot I had ever heard of I actually actu-ally admired him for the daring and the intellectuality of it as a feat iS stimulated me. Yes, once having the key to it in Hie slipper, I saw the whole plot as plain as day; the one point puzzling me was : how did monsieur know I had the diamonds now? I couldn't make that out at all not if I believed Mrs. Delario hadn't told him, and I thought she was the only other living person who knew it. Well, I had them, and I'd keep them for all of monsieur until I returned them to her. At a quarler after six or thereabouts I 'heard the front bell ring three two's I'd told Billy Rivers to use as his signal, sig-nal, and I skimmed along the hall in my Eureka frame of mind never once thought of precautions or of calling through first and making sure it was Billy and flung the door open wide. As the door flew back I realized the fool thing I'd done; and then without even looking to see who it was I caught the door and tried to shut it again. But he pushed. I looked, then cried "Billy !" and grabbed him by the arm. I knew I didn't deserve it it ought by the rights of romance to have been the villain. "Oh, Billy my deliverer you dear !" I gasped the minute the door was shut. "I declare you're good enough to kiss!" and with thai I up and did it! Billy was embarrassed. He appraised ap-praised my salutation at, "Aw say " and a sheepish grin; so I felt obliged to add, as I dragged him along the hall, "But I used to kiss you years and yeats ago." "Why, so you did in my Stone age," acknowledged Billy, his tone' implying im-plying that he'd passed through some eons of civilization since; and with that he thrust a big package in my hands, saying laconically, "Some eats." "Some eats !" I gurgled, remembering remember-ing suddenly that I was starving. "Billy I could kiss you again " "Aw say " he parried, and grabbed the package and began tearing off the wrapper. "It's so sudden but thank you ever so much, and for heaven's sake tell me what's happened ! I'll bust if you don't." "I've run off with a million dollars' worth of diamonds, that's all." For a minute Billy looked as if he thought I'd run off with my senses; vU i - Iyrfj4 .Fiji Ml Is Billy Was Embarrassed. then he observed in that soothy, condensed con-densed tone a very sane young person uses to a respected elder whose mind is wandering: 'T think you'd better eat something- immediately." (Full period hertt it says, "We'll tail: about what alls you when you're feeling more yourself.") "Where's your can opener?" I was so hungry at the sight of food that little panicky pains ran round my insides and up my throat, and I pranced into the kitchen for the opener anil plates, leaving Billy to think what be plea.--eil about my mental state. 1 had Ihe wit, though, to tell him "Ssh !" Just at that moment Mrs. Tbing-d Tbing-d nvn-stairs began Iter supper-time per- j formauces. Lit tie bad I ever dreamed that her daily torture of a'i otherwise Inoffensive piano would sometime prove a blessing to me. Billy whispered whis-pered hoarsely, "What's that? The villain trying to get iu?" I said, "Mrs. Tliing-dowu-stairs believes be-lieves it's music, lucky for us we can now breathe out loud without fear of the villain. He may be listening at the front door but he'll hear nothing while she operates." Billy forked a lot of chicken onto rny plate and commanded me to go to it, and I grabbed a roll out of his box and said : "Billy, he tried to murder me." "He?" "That man he was waiting for me with a dagger that night look here" I jumped up and got the dagger from my penholder tray "he dropped it on the floor." "Gee whiz !" he cried, taking the dagger dag-ger from me ; and then he demanded, "Who?" "That man De Ravenol." "De Ravenol? you mean that man in Paris who wanted you to bring the pretty daughter over with you and you wouldn't?" "Yes that's the one. He was a diamond dia-mond thief that's what he was !" I blew off. "He was in the act of stealing steal-ing a million dollars' worth of diamonds. dia-monds. And I foiled him !" "Wow! You did?" "I should say I did ! And what's more, I've got the diamonds here there behind you in those hyacinths." "Wow !" he whooped, and before I knew what he was doing he was out of his chair, his hand on the glass. "Don't touch them !" I shrieked. "Wow !" he cried, dropping his hand and jumping back. "Do they bite?" "No they sting. They pizen your very soul. But, Billy stop wowing I'm watched." He sat down with the command, "Divulge the dread secret," and between be-tween bites I told him the whole story up to Eureka, and brought in the slipper slip-per to prove it. He was still staring when I got through and asked him, "And now how am I going to get those beastly things out of the house and where am I going go-ing to get them to? She doesn't dare to have them at her house " "Oh, I can take them away and hide 'em, If that's all you want," he answered carelessly. "It isn't all," I retorted, a bit indignant. indig-nant. "It's only the beginning of a new chapter of misery for the whole of us it's throwing the responsibility on you without getting me out of the net it won't save'me from being kidnaped kid-naped and searched and maybe murdered mur-dered to keep my mouth shut " Billy . nodded at that and said, "You're right." He took a cigarette out of his case and with a short, "May I?" lighted up and began to blow rings, gazing at them abstractedly. I nibbled crumbs. After I'd stood his silence for half a cigarette, I repeated my question and told him, "We've got to do something right off now tonight." "Of course." He smoked another quarter and threw flie cigarette with energy into the empty chicken tin, bouncing up as he spoke. "What are we going to do?" he gave forth masterfully. "We're going, to trap that bold man all by our little own selves you and I. And we'll give him one nice lesson on stealing diamonds dia-monds from defenseless women and threatening you." "But we've got to hurry," I urged. "I can't live this way much longer it's simply killing me!" "Sure," Billy agreed, suppressing a smile at me. "I'm hurrying all I can. I calculate to have your 'mossoo' in handcuffs tomorrow night." And he unfolded his plot and I entered into it with fervor. The truth is Billy and I were having the fun of our lives. The scheme was to decoy monsieur to the flat by a letter fre-m Mrs. Dela rio indicating where toe diamonds were hidden : we banked on his remembering re-membering the one place he hadn't searched the hyacinths; and if he got the tip we believed he'd return the moment mo-ment I went out. After some discussion Billy and I decided not to lake Mrs. Delario into our confidence, not knowing how she'd act in the crisis, which necessitated our imitating her writing. The only sample of her writing we had was her address in my notebook and some titles of books on spiritualism she'd wished me to read. But the sample did us. and the joint literary efforts of myself and Billy produced the following follow-ing this purporting to be from me to her; Sly Hoar Mrs. -Delario: Since he searched everything but the ljuneh of hyacinths a.s I told you over the telephone Tuesday (thi3 slruck me as an exquisitely neat, convincing touch, for his d.-u-ct iv iuu.-.t have reported both that I telephoned and the number of lh! call) I thought the sar.-.e place would continue safe In ca-ic of a second Invasion. I got a fresh Lunch, so you v.-iil know v. her.; If t.nythin- happens to me. If so. come and M-t them at once; break In the flat If you have to. I am poinir to try to see you Salurda v n:j:ht for anal a.': an-emi. ius if I c.n silp out r.ilhnut bem reen. Expect me between eicht and ten. r.e sure to be alone so re can talk. I still hold to r.iy promise one-third one-third to you if you will heip nic to dispose .V frum-dropa. j "dun drops" was Billy's touch he l declared that "mossoo" would read It "diamonds" sure as anything. And this, purporting to he from her to li im : Monsieur; I have refuseu to have anything to do with this matter since I know the truth of the ownership. I nder the circumstances. circum-stances. I ieel she Is foolish to try to hold on. Get the hyacinths while she Is at my house lonlnht. und the trouble will be over for everybody. I typed my own letter with a carbon copy while Billy laboriously produced the one from Mrs. Delario. The decoy letters we sent to the hotel ho-tel where monsieur was staying. The rest of our plan was this: Billy was to "siteak it" upstairs and get into the flat ; I was then to put on my wraps, "He Won't Murder You, They're Loaded." go down in the elevator, telling George I was going out for the evening so he'd report it to monsieur; wait in the lower hall for a mythical automobile automo-bile till George went up with the car, and then creep up the stairs. j "This time tomorrow night I'll present pre-sent you with a nice 'mossoo' In handcuffs," hand-cuffs," affirmed Billy confidently. "Suppose he doesn't come? Or suppose sup-pose he murders me tonight?" "Oh, the guns !" He snatched up his overcoat and dived into the pocket. He laid two revolvers on the table, saying cheerfully: "He will come and he won't .riurdcr you not if you keep your wits about you. They're loaded." He slipped the coat on. He was going go-ing in high feather; but my her.rt sank at the prospect of another night and that man lurking in the house. "'Keep a stiff upper- lip heroine of the greatest diamond robbery of the century !" he bantered. "I'll be here ni six tomorrow." lie picked up his hat. "Oh, I'm all right," I returned nonchalantly, non-chalantly, feeling suddenly knock-kneed knock-kneed yet determined I'd not let Billy suspect it. I rang for the elevator, and while the car was rumbling up Billy glided away in the darkness of the stairs back of it. He must have reached only the first turn when I heard him exclaim, ex-claim, "Oh! Excuse me! I never saw you !" Followed the word, "Pardon !" and I recognized monsieur's voice! I had the presence of mind to stifle my curiosity and slip back into my flat, noiselessly shutting the door. Was he merely coming to lock me in, or had he been listening? My forebodings forebod-ings every moment Increased, for up to one o'clock when I went to bed he had failed to lock me in. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |