Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 275, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1910 — Page 3

SINGHA’S crown jewel.

Continued from Paare Two.

® Poor wretch impriabned, starkaKed, in the stateroom below. For a that I knew, he might be a dead +^ e by thls time. »It seemed'a cruel t . ing in( ieed for me to let him perish ere alone and unfriended, whoever and whatever he might be. • There was Jet time. At least, I might make tbe effort to rescue him. , Tur ning, i plunged dbwn the diffcult incline, and suddenly went sprawling to the bottom of the slimerenched companionway, landing knee eep in bilge. The shock stimulated nic.

Through the heavy wash of the water I dashed, and reached my state room, finding it lifted Quite high and ry. My companion I saw flat on his ack, panting, and resigned to the inevitable. Great God!” he murmured. thought you would never coihe.” He rolled over partly, and I saw he s Pent with weakness. Quick, quick!” he cried. ‘‘Do you see this letter? I can’t read it—am I ind?” He fumbled with the docum® nt > Which he could no longer see. It is to my promised wife in Kent,” he said. “I wrote it—here, on shipboard, since starting. Read it, read it! It tells all. It will explain everything. Take it—won’t you, please, please! And that, too—by ail means that—whatever happens.” He pointed his shruken finger toward a Hoose silken bag of green lying close beside him. “i charge you, take it to her! Swear to me—swear!” I readied over and laid my hand upon the parcel. Then I drew back shuddering. It squirmed in my grasp! Great Jove!” I demurred. “Leave you here, and save that—that accursed thing?”

"Yes, that’s it—that’s just it. Leave me, save it. You kee, just now that’s tbe most valuable beast of its kind on God’s footstool.” He laughed inanely. “As for me, friend, I’m a goner. Ship afloat or ship going down, it’s all the same now.

"A ou don’t know—l do. There you are. But you can save a noble, patient, angelic woman a Iff etime of slavery and sorrow if you will only take these to her—both, the letter and tbe precious parcel. Great God! don’t say that you won’t!” He dimly made out my shrinking attitdde, and thrust forward his hand to seize me lest I fly at once from him. “But you shall yet take them to her yourself, man,” I replied, railing him into courage. “I am going ’to carry you to the deck.”

He interrupted with a scream of horror. “No, no, no! Don’t touch me. If you do—if you do ” They were his last words. In spite of all protest, with the best intent imaginable, I had flung my arms about him, raising him bodily from the floor. A'shudder passed over the suddenly rigid frame,x the lips gave forth a groan, and the mysterious voyager feil back limp and pulseless. Tenderly I restored him to the little rug, horrified. Then a shout on deck roused me. “All hands save themselves! Ail hands ” I heard no more. Snatching up the letter and thrusting it into my pocket, f seized the accursed green silk bag, resolved to atone for my rashness to the dead by executing his orders in regard to the living, and made a dash for the deck, struggling breast-deep through the bilge-water. A minute later I found myself, bruised and panting, upon the ship which had collided with us. I was quite the last living thing to abandon the derelict, before she broke from the embrace of her destroyer, lunged over into the swell, like a harpooned whale, and sank. The ship that bore us then headed sorrowfully back toward ’Bombay, twenty hours away. Rescuers and rescued were all gathered beloXv, leaving that part of the deck where I lay in the stupor of exhaustion quite deserted. A thousand dull fancies floated through my brain. Then came the question of my future course. My possessions at hand just then consisted of one flannel suit in a state lamentable to behold, a pipe, a notebook, a jackknife, and a couple of gold coins, and—that accursed green silk bag, and the “Moorman’s” letter. Calmly I drew that epistle forth, and before I realized it was lost <in its contents. It did not tell the whole but even its half truths were interesting, and gave a clue to the tragedy of two devout and devoted lives. It read.

My Beloved: Since writing you of my luck in having found (while hunting for rare specimens of venomous Ophldia ,for my good friend and employer, Dr. Bondwell, the naturalist) that ancientout sapphire in a remote rift of the fortifications of Minerayia, things have taken a different turn. The minute the Moormen—greatest gem-experts in the world —set their greedy eyes upon it, they haw that it must be a priceless Crown gem, and so the secret reached the Government House, by wireless, I fancy. At any rate, I was “invited" to bring the prize to the authorities, who promised me every consideration. I knew exactly what these promises meant— simply, my dear, that they intended to confiscate the jewel, send it with great pomp to England, and, for my honesty, reward me with a five-pound rupee medal and an underr c ierkship in some windowless vault o f their redtape bureaucracy, swept hy punka breezes, and down on the Bund of fever-rotting Colombo. None o f that for me! , However, to try to make an jescape with the jewel would be ' >»>d to

dispose of it, impossible. I spent a sleepless night and evolved a plan whereby I myself might get away with the gem to Old England and, without benefit of Government House, hand over the jewel to King George myself, telling him my story and craving a proper indulgence. I know His Majesty to be a very kind-hearted man, and I would not plead in vain, should I tell him the circumstances of my accursed life here ill the East; how I became engaged to you and left you practically a slave in Baron Rothwell’s household, because of your late father’s -ruin by his lordship—you a menial, when you were brought up and educated for the highest station in England—left you to come out here and undertake to make a fortune teaplanting, that 1 might go back and claim you and make you happy forever after. I would tell him of the fever which brought me low in the up-country, and, more terrible still, of a recurrence of that curse of my childhood, which I thought I had outgrown—epilepsy—that forced me to abandon tea-growing and enter the service of the famous naturalist, hoping to regain my health in the high plateau of Newer-Ellia.

Then I should tell him of my great find, praying him to adequately reward me that I might never have to return to the East, but might settle down in merry jEngland, to marry, live and die like a white man and a Briton. I had such faith in the project that I actually went gy night to one of the Moormen gem-cutters, whom I knew, and had a paste jewel made, so perfest an imitation with its tiny gold rim, eyelet and all, that only an expert could tell it from the original. The next day I presented myself at Government House and handed over the real Crown sapphire of Rajah Singha, resolved to watch my chance to make a substitution and fly with the original to England and the king. Well, the gem made a sensation indeed. I was feted becomingly, and promised all sorts of impossible things. The>'sapphire held what might be called a daily levee of the w;.hite patricians and natives alike, who flocked by the hundreds to gaze upon

On the third day, mingling myself with a crowd of worshippers before the shrine of Rajah Singha (presided over by one of the trusted underlings of the Department), I managed to get the gem into my hands for a single instant—enough, thank heaven! to make a quick pass, handing back the sham gem and hurrying away with the original. Well, mirabile dictu, three hundred people viewed that counterfeit after I had departed with the real prize, never knowing the difference! Then suddenly the howl went up. I waited till the tidal-wave of consternation somewhat subsided; then engaged bullocks, ostensibly for an-up-country journey. In reality I made a detour through the jungle, reaching Columbo, where, purchasing a Moorman outfit as a disguise, and dyeing my person, as I thought, beyond recognition, I started for the steamer. Still doubtful as to whether I could succeed in hiding my prize, and wondering how best to do so, I was importuned as I stood in front of a dagoba on the town outskirts, by a poor fakir who was working with the largest cobra I had seen in many a moon. The inspiration came all at once: I had handled hundreds of venomous reptiles during my thirteen months with the naturalist, Dr. Bondwell, and I felt that l' could manage this one with impunity. Why not then make this deadly cobra the custodian of the precious gem—ram the sapphire down his commodious gullet, and keep the beast alive till I reached old England? Great idea! I bargained for the big fellow at once. Then I concealed him, fed him high, stored him away in a commodious box, and hurried on shipboard just at the sailing hour.

They might search me, they might search my quarters, or even the reptiles’ cage, but who would think of going gem-hunting in -a cobra’s stomach, or who would dare to take liberties with that portion of the venomous creature’s anatomy, should such a thought occur?

But here a new complication arose. I found that, after days and nights of worry ahd struggle, the fever had returned and so weakened me that I was on the border of another collapse. My roommate, an American, I take it (he had to be appeased with money to allow me to remain here), turns out to be a very civil sort of a fellow. Indeed, I think, if this vertigo does not stop, I shall soon be compelled to take him into my confidence. Dear love—

Here the letter abruptly ended. How much further the man Intended to make me his confidant, I had no means of knowing. During those last fearful hours, however, he had had the strength and forethought to write the name and address of his fiancee on the back of the folded sheet, and, as I raised my eyes from the page, naturally I turned and gazed down at the green silk bag at my side. To my horror and consternation it was empty. What new calamity was this? A moment before' I felt for that green receptacle an unspeakable repulsion. Now I seized it, and slapped it against the starboard rail, uttering exclamations of chagrin and alarm. x What had I done? By lack of vigilance I had lost to the throne of England and to the world one of the grandest gems of all history. My heart rose in a tumult, then sank heavily as I stared about me utterly nonplussed. Then suddenly I saw something move under a shred of sail lying on

the port side; and, careless that I was about to encounter a deadly serpent and might pay for the ransom of that jewel with my life, even as others before me had done, made a dash across deck, and landed, sprawling, almost on top of it. There was a writhing, a struggle, a hiss—and it was gone> Cautiously I raised the sail and peered beneath. Yawning -before me was the port scupper which carried the deck washings down the ship’s planks into the sea. I drew nearer and gazed blankly into its black depths, just in time to see a cobra’s sleek tail disappear from view. Leaping to my feet, I thrust myself far over the port rail, gazing into the green depths below. A hugh wave broke fiercely against the iron hulk, dashing a spray into my eyes and completely blinding me. Sharply I turned about, sorrowful at heart, and fearful that I might have been caught in this shipboard snake hunt. What was I to do? How far did my responsibility extend? In what way had I carried out the commission entrusted to me by the dead, and how would my unfaithful stewardship change the whole career of the living? I Spent five of the unhappiest hours of my life, before I resolved to seek out the captain of the illfated Punjab and unbosom myself of the whole matter.

I found the old Scotchman in the depths of woe, locked in his brother captain’s cabin, and it was only upon my affirming that the errand was of importance that he admitted me. In the silence and semi-darkness of the little chamber on the main deck I confided the secret to the wild-eyed old mariner, who seemed incredulous even after I had read him the strange letter.

The old fellow did not decide my case at once, but ordered me away, telling me to see him as soon as we reached Bombay, for, after a few hours stay, disposing of East Indian passengers and cargo, it had been decided to put straightaway back to England with the passengers of the lost Punjab, so that it was not necessary for me to leave the vessel at all. This ordeal over, I went into seclusion to nurse my chagrin and anger. We reached the Indian port long before daybreak. We v ad been four hours at anchor before I awoke, dressed, and came on deck. I searche l for the captain, but he was nowhere io be found. ; I then turned my attention to the two alleged detecives whom fate had not only defeated, but so severely punished. I discovered that they had been among the first to leave the vessel upon reaching port. A little later we were under way again, westwardho! and the gloom of my spirits lifted I encountered the grim old captain forward the forecastle. He affirmed that while in port he had thrice sent a decksteward in search of me. “But it really does not matter,” he said calmly at the close. “That letter of introduction from the chief ot Bombay was a forgery—the dom. scoundrels!—and here is a copy of the cable telegram I sent to the authorities in Ceylon. You will observe that I was above all circumspect, eh, my lad?” I took the sheet with much misgiving, but the reading of it cheered me. It was as follows: On board S. S. Punjab, sunk in collision yesterday, was young Englishman claims found Crown sapphire Rajah Singha and stole same Government House making paste substitute. Home-bound to present personally King George. Perished with ship. MACKENSIE.

“Circumspect indeed,” I acquiesced as I folded the sheet and handed it back. “It will relieve the tension aown there, and will of course be cabled to England where all the papers will get it. And so, sooner or later, the poor little woman so patiently awaiting her lover and her fortune, will be appraised of Jier double loss. I wish now that I might so easily ease my own conscience in the matter.”

“Weel, lad,” the ancient mariner commiserated, laying his hand upon my shoulder, “we may say that we both suffered the loss of great treasures entrusted to our care, but it was the will of God, sir. It was to be ‘and so it came to pass.’

“We both did our best as the Laird gave us to do. How did I know that ’alf point to leeward would ha' saved a collision in a fog, or you that a cobra would crawl doon a lee-scupper and lose a ten-thousand poun* jewel to the crown of George Rex? Are we ommlscient, mon?” He turned away before I could answer him, and I saw that he was arguing more to convince himself than me, and that he, too, felt his loss a personal reflection upon his. sagacity.

That day was one of the gloomiest of my life, and the night likewise. I had framed a hundred fair speeches with which to encounter everybody in England, from the emissaries of His Majesty, the police, and the press, down to the poor little woman slaving her life away in some grand old castle of Kent. At daybreak of the second day out, barofoot and pajama-clad, as was the masculine custom, I went above to smoke a cigarette and shake the knots out of my cramped limbs, watching a swarthy Mohammedan wrestling with a hose while two others lustily swabbed*, the deck. The morning was ideal, the sea like quicksilver, and alive with flying sis *. I lay back in my steamer-chair and fell into delicious reveries that came pleasantly after my . mentally toil some night. Suddenly I was aroused by the most unearthly scream that ever broke from human lips. (To be continued.)

YOU are CORDIALLY INVITED to attend the Two Weeks | q a k> n f Special Exhibition U Demonstration IPIBDBB ============================ Given by the GREAT KREIL PIANO HOUSE C INCIN NATI-CHICACO - How Going on in Rensselaer. Now is the Time to Get a Genuine Piano Bargain. Free Music at the Store Daily. Open Evenings—See the Sign. ___ The Doors Are Open—Come. Located in the West Room of The Republican Building.

DAIRY COW SALE. We will sell at public auction, on the vacant lot south of Leek’s hitch barn, in Rensselaer, Indiana, at. 1:00 o’clock P. M., on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1910, the following property: 25 Dairy Cows— s cows with calves by side; 10 heavy springers; 4 cows, giving good flow of milk; 6 Jersey and Holstein Heifers, will be fresh in January. These cows are extra good milch and butter cows, and range from 2 to 7 years old. 60 head of Ewes— From 1 to 3 years old, good and well bred. The sale will take place, rain or shine, and the stock will positively be sold to the highest bidder without any reserve blds. TERMS— A credit of 12 months will be given, with approved security, without interest if paid when due; if not paid when due, 8 per cent interest will be charged from date of sale. Discount 7 per cent for cash. No propertj to be removed until settled for. F. L. OVERTON, C. C. WARNER. Fred Phillips, Auctioneer. C. G. Spitler, Clerk.

PUBLIC SALE. The undersigned will sell at public auction at his residence one-half mile north of Gifford* beginning at 10 o’clock A. M., op FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1910, the following property: 8 head of Horses— Consisting of 2 mares, one in foal, and one horse. 5 Cows and 1 Bull Calf — 4 cows giving inilk, and all will be fresh soon. 75 Chickens. Farm Machinery— One riding plow, 1 cream separator, 1 riding cultivator. 1 corn planter, 2 harrows, 1 wagon, 3 sets of harness; 1 buggy. Corn in field; hay in stack. Household and Kitchen Furniture. TERMS— A credit of 12 months will be given on all sums over SIO.OO without interest if paid when due; if not paid when due, 8 per cent interest will be charged from date of sale. 7 per cent discount for cash on all sums over ten dollars. Cash in hand on sums under 810.00 No property to be removed until settled for. Hot lunch on ground. NATHAN BLITSTEIN. Fred Phillips, Auctioneer. C. G. SpiUer, Clerk. ■ 1 *T' 1 ' . “I do not believe there is any other medicine so good for whooping cough as Chamberlain's Cough Remedy,” writes Mrs. Francis Turpin, Junction City, Ore. This remedy is also unsurpassed for colds and croup. For sale by all dealers. c Itch! Itch! Itch!—Scratch! Scratci! Scratch! The more you scratch the worse the itch. Try Doan’s Ointment. It cures piles, eczema, anv skin itching. All druggists sell it.

PLEASANT RIDGE. Mr. and Mrs. Will Willit spent Sunday at Will Eldridge’s. Harry Thompson spent Sunday with Victor Moore and family. Mr. and Mrs. Harve Lowman spent Sunday at Wash Lowman’s. Mr. and Mrs. Delos Pass spent Sunday with the latter’s parents. Will Eldridge has been quite ill wit i pneumonia but is recovering now. and Mrs. Fred Linback and family spent Sunday with John Linback, of Barkley township. Mr. and Mrs. James Moore and fam ily spent Sunday with Mrs. Moore’s mother, Mrs. Jane LCjwman. Delos Pass lost two good horses this week. Dr. Hansson was in attendance and did all he could for both, but could not save them. The Pleasant Ridge store has again changed hands. Clifford Parkisonhas bought- Mr Markin’s interest and hereafter will have entire charge of the store and the grain business. Lecture Dates. Nov. 30—The Schuberts, a mixed quartette of singers and entertainers. Dec. 9—L. B. Wickersham, popular lecturer. Jan. 19—Booth Lowrey, humorist. March 13—The Beilharz Entertainers. Extra Number—Byron King, last year’s favorite, whose date has not been set. PUBLIC SALE. The undersigned will offer at public sale at his ranch, 8 miles east of Rensselaer and one mile north of McCoysburg, commencing at 12:0*) o’clock, on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22,’ 1910, 200 Read of Cattle— 6o head of coming 3-year-old steers; 50 head of coming 2-year-old steers; 20 head of 1,050-pound feeders; 30 head of 'fine last spring calves; 30 head of coming 2-year-old heifers; 10 head of fresh cows and springers. All the above are native cattle, well bred; in fact, as fine a lot as ever offered in Jasper county. TERMS— A credit of 11 months will be given, with approved security, without interest if paid when due; if not paid when due, 8 per cent interest will be charged from date of sale. Discout 4 per cent for cash, "“'Sfbprop-’ erty to be removed until settled for. All regular trains both ways will stop at McCoysburg on day of sale, and a bus conveyance will carry passengers from depot to place of sale. Hot lunch on ground. 8. R. NICHOLS. Fred Phillips, Auctioneer. A lazy liver leads to chropic dyspepsia and constipation—weakens the whole system. Doan’s Regulets (25 cents per box) correct the liver, tone the stomach, cure constipation.

For Sale or Trade. 21 acres, four blocks from court house, on cement walk. 25 acres, five-room house easy terms. 80 acres, on stone road, four miles out, $65. 69 acres, Washington county, improved. Will trade. 160 acres in Polk county, Ark., clear, will trade and pay difference. 631 acres, well improved, in Dickey county, N. D. Will trade. 80 acres on pike, free mall, telephone .and one-fourth mile.to school; lies at head of large ditch; 70 acres cultivated; has good five-room house, good barn, milk house, chicken house, good well and orchard. Price $45, easy terms, or will take trade as flr.rt payment. 160 acres, 130 cultivated, 30 acres timber, near station, on large ditch, fair improvements. Will sell on easy terms or take trade as first payment. Price $55. 180 acres, all good soil, ±lO in cultivation, 70 acres in pasture, fenced hog tight; lots of tile, has good eightroom house, out buildings, wind mill, and tanks, large bearing orchard of all kinds of fruit, and is well located. Price $65. Will sell on easy terms or take trade as first payment. G. F. MEYERS. NOTICE. Owing to poor health I will not have any cut flowers down town for Thanksgiving, but will have fine carnations for all at my green house. Any one wanting other cut flowers besides carnations please telephone me no later than Monday, the 21st, so that I can order them for you. Everybody is requested to come and see my fine stock of potted plants, the largest and finest ever in the city. ' KING FLORAL CO. Church of God Services. The third Sunday in each month being the regular time for preaching here by Joseph Williams, of Frankford, Ind., whose subject for Sunday morning will be the “Transfiguration on the Mount,” and Sunday evening, “The Crucifixion of Self.” On Saturday night preceding he will give a Biblq lesson—subject, “Salva- • W*' You are cordially invited to attend these services and thereby grow in the knowledge of God and His Righteousness. Blue Rock Shooting Match. There will be a blue rock shooting match held at Pa-r on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 24th, for turkeys, ducks, and markmanship. Everybody tni vlted. . LESLIE ALT El’. > len Mccurtain, Managers.