Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 270, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1910 — RAJAH SINGHA’S CROWN JEWEL [ARTICLE]

RAJAH SINGHA’S CROWN JEWEL

By Charles Edward Barnes.

A tale of complications, great surprises, and many a slip between the cup and the lip.

Copyright, The Frank A. Munsey Co. At tiffin, under- way again, the captain turned his thoughful face toward me and said, “Mr. Starkweather, would you mind coming to my cabin a little later? 1 have something to ask of you.” “At your service, sir,” said I, perceiving something upon the captain’s mind that somehow, unconsciously, I connected with my mysterious Moorman roommate. Immediately after tis--fin, then, 1 hastened to the captain’s sumptuous quarters. He was alone, that bearded, shaggybrowed misanthrope of a Scotch mariner, and without a word he brought forth a decanter of the real peaty good cheer and a box of abominable cigars. No Briton on the high seas knows what a good smoke it. “Young mon,” said he at once, “I want you to tell me all you know aboot that quare individual roomin’ with you below. I mean that silk-bloused, safi'rom deil o’ a Moorman.” He faced me solemnly as I puffed the ebony cheroot. “Little —very little,” I replied after a pause. "He seems to be the quitest sort of a chap; speaks English excellently, but never unless spoken to; goes and comes very quietly; doesn’t smoke hashish nor drink palm-toddy, so far as I know; and otherwise minds his own business like a serious-mined Mohammedan who does recite the Koran aloud after midnight nor offer up offensive livestock on the shrine of the prophet.” “Aye, but it isn’t for lack o’ the livestock, me laddy, is it?” The old captain’s eyes glowed. I felt myself like one caught in some scurvy enterprise. “What makeo jou say that, captain?” I asked. “We’ve made some investigations," he said bluntly, “myself and two others, gentlemen of the secret service, who came aboard this morning at Bombay.” I . j.' , “Oh, indeed!” I exclaimed in surprise. “Well proceed.” "The brown beggar was absent from his quarters,” the captain continued. “We ransacked every corner and cranny of the rpom and every crevice of the heathen’s luggage—so far as we dared.” He raised his frightened eyes. I laughed outright. “Yes,” I said sharply. “I can fancy a point where your investigations might cease. I haven’t seen the beast, but the soun.d of him is enough to give me the creepy tingle—” "One of the secret-service men got both the sound and the feeling of him,” said the captain gloomily. "He’s down in the hospital now with two fang-marks in his thumb, and chockfull of whiskey. His hand and arm are a sight to behold. “And yet,” he went on, much wrought up, “even then, by the seven devils, sir! we didn’t find it—not a clue to its whereabouts, sir, not one!” “It?” I echoed intently, leaning far forward. “Clue to what, captain?” “Why, the great Rajah Singha sapphire—the most valuable crown gem of its size and kind in the World. It has been stolen. Read that! Read 11 chief of the Bom Bay police.” “Is it possible?” I cried, thrilled by his own excitment. Then breathlessly I seized the missive. It was typewritten upon Department paper, with the chief’s scrawl ui the close. It ran as follows: My Dear Captain: This will introduce to you members of my secret staff, Major Caldwell, formerly of Scotland Yard, and Mr. John Griggs, an American, both experts in their profession. They will explain to you their mission. If that Moorman is still your passenger, you will do me a great service by helping the bearers of this letter to follow- up any clue that may lead to the recovery of the gem or the capture of the thief. Herewith is a copy of the cabletelegram from the authorities at Kandy, Ceylon. It will explain itseif. Further information these gentlemen will vouchsafe themselves. Yours very truly, DANIEL POTTS, Chief. The gable-telegram read thus: —Board S. S. Punjab on arrivaLlnvestigate Moorman passenger; suspect has in possession great Rajah Singha sapphire only yesterday discovered to be stolen. Make thorough search and advise. * FERNANDEZ, Chief. Naturally I read the message with wonder. I was about to express my amazemenUwhen a form darkened the threshold, and the captain rose to greet the newcomer. He was a short man with a florid face, smajl but determined eyes, a tweed peajacket buttoned over closely about his stooping body. His person was not particularly impressive.^ ‘'How’s the patient, Mr. Griggs?” said the captain anxiously. V “Oh, thfe doctor says he will pull through all right. But even if he doesn’t,” added the newcomer almost brutally, “he will never know the disThat liquor has made him dead to the world.” “It was a terrible dose,” the captain agreed, “almost as bad as the bite. By the by, thiß is the queer Moor-

man’s roommate, Mr. Starkweather— Mr. Griggs. Let’s settle down to business, gentlemen.” I took the detective’s hand. It was limp and clammy. His shabby attire and double-peaked Scotch cap were somehow in keeping with his character as a detective; but to allege that he was an American was ludicrous. Either birth, long association, or both, proclaimed him to be a denizen of the kangaroo country of Australia. I knew the breed. The pair launched into their subject. “You see, it’s this way, gentlemen,” said the detective glibly, helping himself into a comfortable wicker chair. "The story of that magnificent sapphire reads like a Pali legend. An old scoundrel, Rajah Singha, ip the sixteenth century, having taken the city of Kandy in battle, confiscated everything in sight. “Among other spoils, he seized upon the most magnificent sapphire in the world—a living torch of blue flame, worth an oriental kingdom. The gem is not of particularly large size—about as big as an English walnut. It is cut in the usual asine Hindu style, but is of a brilliancy surpassing even a diamond of finest water. “Well, history records that through the centuries the gem was stolen from time to time, and was the occasion of several torturings, beheadings, and nameless horrors, till at last it fell into the hands of the Malabar king of Kandy. The latter surrendered to the British in 1815. “Well, the first British governor of the Islands was a guest at the Adigar’s palace. During a grand banquet, the wife of the governor noticed the great gem on the king’s turban, and coveted it. “The king promptly and gallantly tore it from his head-piece, where it hung pendant, and passend it across the table to the fair lady with his compliments. Womanlike, of course, she took the jewel, repairing to her room later, and laying it on her ing-table. “Then a strange thing happened. She had turned her back for a moment upon the gem, and, although she was apparently quite alone in the room, when she looked for the great sapphire again it was gone! “Natjirally she was much enraged at what seemed to be a piece of trickery on the part of her host, and roused the household. The Adigar was furious. “He commanded the servants of the household to come before him, ordering them beaten, one by one, within an inch of their lives. And yet, for all that—l think the chronicle states that seven or eight servants perished under the floggings—the sapphire was never recovered in that generation. “Two months ago, however—wonderful to relate—the gem was found in a magpie’s deserted nest in a cranny of some ancient fortification, where it had rested undisturbed for negrly a century. The thief then must have been one of those übiquitous birds—the most accomplished thieves of pretty gewgaws in all Ceylon. "On that particular day the rascal must have flown in at the open window of the palace chamber, seized the gem while milady had turned her back, and flown off to his secret cranny with it. “Well, last week, of course, the Crown confiscated the gem, but 111fortune followed it still, it seems. The night before it was to have been shipped to England, to adorn perhaps the hilt of King George’s sword, or to dangle on the breast of Her Majesty the the great sapphire of Rajah Singha was aghin missing. “Every clue points toward the Moorman who is now on this ship as the thief. With the authority given us by our credentials, we made a search of the Moorman’s quarters, with an unItfappy result to my collegue, and without the finding of a single clue regarding the whereabouts of the gem. We must therefore proceed at once to search further.” “What do you propose to do?” said T, not in the least impressed with his recital, save so far as it concerned the sapphirejs own weird history, which was sufficiently remarkable to excite wonder. “I propose to bring the rascal right here, sir, and strip him to the hide. Unless he has swallowed the jewel—l fancy it would lie heavy on his chest at that—we shall find it, for 44-is certainly nowhere among his effects. If he has it at all, it is secreted on his person. What do you say), captain?” The old Scotch mariner gave a sign of assent. "You have all the authority you need,” he said. "Bring him here. Mr. Starkweather and I shall both fye witnesses.” The man addressed rose without a word and passed from our presence. The captain then turned to me. “What do you think about all this?” he asked dispassionately. (To be continued.)