Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1920 — Diamond Cut Diamond [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diamond Cut Diamond

By JANE BUNKER

OUMnUbt W the BobbeJtonlll Cowean I merdy shrugged, as though to tell Mm, “Find out for yourself. * Seeing it he did not pursue that line but tried this: “You saw a good deal of her on the steamer, did you not—talked with her I Ignored this last and told him, i “But I have no Information to give you I Nothing at all. She, did not. come oner with-me—l had no charge of her*~no responsibility for her actions on board the steamer, or for her being met or not met or anything OiMu* — “Oertainly. I understand." He gave the door a little push as a hint to me. “But do you not see that you might ftirnlsh mq with a valuable due?” He gave the door a harder push, and as It clicked on the chainbolt he repeated, “If you allow me to enter that We may discuss this In prlvK> r: I thought I saw myself letting a strange man enter with all those diamonds loose In a box with pens! And at the thought of them I saw that this might fas'only another plot of monsieur's I I looked at him In a way that made, him think I was considering my responsibilities, and then I asked as casually an I could, “But at what time did she disappear?” “Ah, that is the he cried, giving a tragic—or what he meant to be tragic—gesture to show how utterly the girl had vanished. - And he stopped to consider what he should tell me next, and I, seeing no chance to catch a clue for mysdf, added, “If you are simply free-lancing In. the case I should not feel justified in discussing her with you—but If her father Is employing yon—ls if 1« hr who has put the dase in your hands—that is a different matter, and I see no objection to telling you all I know." , He took the bait, hook and sinker! “It.is her father who has placed the matter in my hands,” he replied convincingly; and at the same time he gave the door a above as If to say, “Now you must let me Ini” and dropping his voice to a whisper: “lon will understand also why the greatest secrecy must be maintained!” “Gh, of course. Now, when did Ae disappear?”" , I got this off in a tone to Indicate that I was thawing out Not lost on hlm l He answered with a quick but vagpe, “Shortly after landing.” “You don’t say I" I exclaimed, wishing to seem shocked and trying to I keep back A laugh at the way he’d gtoea himself away. But the next moment I realized that the fellow could have no possible connection with monMeur. It earns over me with a rush that thiSwas a plot against Claire herself I Was it to kidnap lier and Sold her fur ransom? Her California grandfather, now dying, was reputed tepngr times the millionaire.. Or was this the counterplot of some other nation against Germany for the possession of Mexico?—an effort to strike at De Ravenol, the emperor’s messenger, through his daughter and put a spoke in the treaty ?

I experienced a positive shock .an this situation burst on me. I must get Ad of this detective Immediately, yet not let him guess what I was now fairly certain of, so l told him wP* affected cordiality, “I see just how it is—and: that you wish to keep this secret as long as possible. I'm sorry—but it isn’t convenient for me to receive you at this moment’’ “Can you make it this afternoon?” he asked, „ “Not very well—unless you wish to meet a reporter from one of the big dailies.” I ggye him a look that said, “That’s what I’m trying to avoid ter you.” He started slightly and hastily begged me, “Do not let the press get hold of thiab I have spoken to you in . confidence—l felt I might trust you.” “Cert -norrow at nine will

t>e safe r tnmx. snail 1 expect gpur I saw he was about to demur at thia, but the rumbling of the elevator, coming nearer and nearer, had attracted his attention. The top of the car showed up at our door. “Nine,” he whispered, giving me a signal to be silent; and with that he slipped noiselessly to the stairs—the way he had come up—and disappeared. The car door opened and Billy jumped out. I hastily undid the chainbolt and he bounded in with a “What

do you think?” and dragged me along' the hall, out of earshot of the door, 1 and then cried in an excited whisper,! “Tour ‘mossoo’ has flew the coop!" Billy flung his hist on the table and । repeated his words —’*Your ‘mossoo’ has flew the coop—do you hear?’ for I had been too astonished to say ‘anything when I heard them the first time. “Gone—bag and baggage! Evaporated I Took a carriage and told the driver the Waldorf.” “Then he’s not gone very far,” I remarked, without thinking, only to you "^jpo^ haven’t been there already? I tell yon he’s lit out for parts unknown —that’s the size of it, and I want to know what for! He left the hotel at seven In the morntag—seven, mind you, before anybody was out of bed. He hadn’t registered at the Waldorf by eleven—and be hasn’t registered at any of the other big hotels. I got a hunch he’s got some now scheme on and there’s no use looking for him In New York. Do you imagine he would go to Washington on his own hook —with his daughter and all—and lay the case before the president? I mean to lay a case before the president —trust little old /mossoo’ to tell only what he wants known r “Suppose he hasr I cried, and then I added, “That would be almost too good to be true.” “Yes—l feel that way—l kind-a don’t sedm to feel that he did—my hunch doesn’t say he did. But say— I've been figuring It out coming up on the sub—your ‘mossoo’ is laying a new trap for you and Mrs. Delarlo. He knows one of you two women- has ‘got the diamonds —he knows it in his boots, no matter what you say—and anyway you have. He knows you’ve got ’em—that you’re bound to keep ’em—and wouldn’t dare sell or tell. See? That’s where he’s got you; and *he knows you’re both of you shaking in your boots.” Tm shaking, all right—l’ve had my fill of diamonds!” I admitted bitterly. • “And that’s how he argues. He’s

only got to give you a new scar® of ' unrt—and wait. And I bet you, ■ too, you get your scare Inside an hour»”

“Perhaps I’ve had it already!” I cried, suddenly recollecting my mysterious detective, whom I had forgotten in this now development of affairs, and I told Billy the story. But when I came to my suspicions that it was Claire the man was after Billy flopped down all in a heap on the divan. “Good Lord I" he gasped. “It might be!” and for some minutes Ussat there, squeezing his bands and glaring at the floor. Suddenly Mrs. Thingdo wn-stairs began rendering her Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song” of a pig on Ice, and Billy jumped up tn irritation and paced the floor. I was glad of her performance—it was a gratuitous contribution to the safety of conversation in my own flat. . “Tell me again everything your detective man said,” commanded Billy. “And you’re sure he’s a tec.?” “I’m not sure of anything,” I returned. “I had nothing to go on but what he said and what I guessed. Ho may have been a fancy burglar—a literary burglar, after my last novel 1 such things have happened.” I saw Billy's lip curl at this frivolous suggestion, but I ran on. “He may be a gentleman crook —someone on the steamer whom I didn’t know* but who noticed I had an interest Inthegiri and is using it now to get In here and map the grounds so he can come back and rob and murder me.” > “Oh, don’t joke,” he begged disconsolately. “This is awfully serious. Why couldn’t this man—you say you think he’s a foreigner—why couldn’t he be the emperor's follow-up? mow why*” (TO BE CONTINUED)

“Your 'Mossoo' Has Flew the Coop.”