Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1920 — Diamond Cut Diamond [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diamond Cut Diamond

By JANE BUNKER

-out, monsieur, are you sure of this man Haskins?” I questioned. “Are you sure he wasn’t lying for the reward?— that all he told you wasn’t a mere coincidence?” ~ “Bah 1” he cried in a tone of disgust and some contempt for me. “Coincidence! Madame, you must know zat when you find more zan sree coincidences in a case you have —circumstantial evidence! When you have sufficient circumstantial evidence you have —proof. And when you have ze proof of a crime—you can act!” He shot this off in a fierce determined tone and I saw he was ready to spring the mine under the Delarios, mother and son. To gain time, I asked: “But are these coincidences sufficient ?—are they evidence?” “Bah!" he cried again. “Zey are sufficient for any court!” He leaned a little nearer to me and spoke in a more confidential way, as if he expected. me to agree.wlth him: “Ze chain of evidence Is complete. Ze same house —ze house In which zoze diamonds are known to go In zat slipper; ze son of ze lady who owns zat slipper; ze date on which zey are shown —not before zey have arrive in America, but some five days after; ze seven stones. And ze man Haskins have even describe ze same box! Oui—Monsieur Eugene does not take zoze diamonds out of zat box to show zem! —a small white box, about ze size—” Monsieur glanced over my table and his eye fell on—the box with the diamonds! “ —about ze size of zis,” and he picked it up. My heart stopped beating. With a

tremendous effort I raised my eyes from It to his face, just as he took hold at the elastic and snapped it “Ze chain of evidence is perfectf* be cried, pulling up the elastic and —it broke with a sharp report The sound went through me like a pistol-shot. I jumped half out of my chair and exclaimed, “Oh!” and fell back again. I had heard the pens rattle. I thought "Suppose he opens it>— suppose he drops it! Heavens! What shall I do? How shall I get it out of his hands and not betray myself?" It took about a second for these words to dash through me, and before I had decided—or had need to decide, be exclaimed: “Pardon me, madame—did I frighten you?” and laid the box back on the table. For a moment I was unable toepeak. , Ths tension of those few seconds, while he actually held the diamonds In his hands, had paralysed me. I realised that I was pressing my hand to my heart! I stopped that and stammered, “Y—yes, l am a little nervous." He waited a moment for me to recover my self-possession and then . vent on briskly: “Madame, I wish to say immediately—before we proceed anosser step —■at I appreciate your position. It is most difficult—moot difficult for a lady such as yourself. You are se friend of Vadame Delario, is it not?" “Yes, I am—and you must realise—** Efe stopped me. “Out—perfectly. And It is as her friend sat I approach you now and ask your continued help.* “Wb, monsieur, you must let me withdraw now from an further connection with the case. I have done all I can—l truly have—“l know—l appreciate," lie cut in. “Wow attend, madame, to i_y argument: Sree sings must be considered." He checked them off op his fingers. “First, she cons esses she has sose diamonds and will return asm

ngntrui owner. Second, madame win deny absolutely zat she have ever seen zoze diamonds. It may be ze truse— It may not be —ze point is, zat she denies all knowledge. You and Monsieur Rivers have already told me ze difficulty I meet here —if she have find zem and deny it. Or, sird—■she confesses to you everysing about ze finding of zoze diamonds, but —you are her friend —she Induces you not to betray her secret—you promise her you will not. A most-difficult position for you, madams if zat last la . It not?” “Decidedly,” I remarked dryly. Wul. And now I beg you to appre- ( elate zls evidence of my esteem for yourself—l wish to spare you all pos- ; Bible humiliation, and yet to retain your co operation wis me. “Madame, If zoze diamonds are not In my possession in two hours from now, Monsieur Eugene will be arrested and go to prison, and his stay sere will not be short, for I ask to have ball j —as ze crime Is a great one —fixed at one hundred sousand dollars and his* muzzer is unable to give it. Madame, if you are her friend, you can save her now. I give you two hours in which to bring me zoze diamonds.” And the diamonds lay on my table beside him! I had only to reach out my hand and say, “Here,” and the matter was settled. Yet something in me kept saying, “No—no —no — you mustn’t!” --

Ysald nothing and monsieur repeated, “If in two hours zoze diamonds are not in my hands I will have her son’ arrested,” and I sat there looking at the box and thinking that In two seconds —if Iso willed it—the diamonds would be in his hands ! No —I dared not do it without at least exacting some proviso that should prevent their use in the treaty with Mexico—it would be treachery to my country, cowardice. We had two hours —we could do something In that time — W e’d not, the three of us, give up without a struggle. “Well?" he asked. “But just what do you wish me to do?” I asked, finding my tongue again. “I don’t seem to be clear on it” “I have been telling you,” he showed signs of impatience. “I wish you to call upon her immediately—she is at home, for my daughter is wis her—” he smiled at that, remembering how he’d used Claire to checkmate Billy and me the night before. “Repeat zis interview zat you have wis me—convince her zat I am ready to have her son put under arrest” —he drew forward to the edge of his chair and continued in the tone of one addressing a partner —“I asure you zat when you have communicate zis wis her, she does one of two sings: If she have already confess to you she have ze diamonds, she release you instantly from ze obligation to keep her secret; and if she have not already confessed all to you, she does so—she is obliged to do so to protect herself—to ask advice of a friend who comes to warn her.”

By this time I had perceived that my one feasible Une of action lay in pretending to fall In with his plans, thus gaining time in which to consult Billy as well as Mrs. Delario, and I said smoothly: “I appreciate the delicacy with which you have put the case to me and relieved me of the necessity of talking to you about my friend —I can’t tell you how I appreciate it—” and there I stuck 1 What did I nfean to do?—tell him Fd go? And if I did, was Ito take the diamonds or leave them behind in the house? At that instant of indecision and perplexity my eye lighted upon the note sent up by my recent mysterious caller —the supposed detective. My counter-move! I drew it from the envelope and with it I made a fresh start in conversation. “I appreciate it so much that I treat you with a corresponding confidence ■nd I ask you to explain one or two Ut> tie matters so that I may avoid any difficulties that may arise while I’m discussing the matter with Mrs. Delario.” “Wis pleasure—anysing—" “Well, this—l should like an explanation of this note.” : I put it in his hand. He read it, frowned, turned it over to see if there were anything on the other side and still frowning said, “Zia note? I know noosing of sis note." And he read aloud—“‘Mademoiselle Claire de Ravenol has disappeared!’ My daughter has not disappeared —except so far die has disappeared sis n»«wnfng to Madame Delario’s house." His words and manner to my mind at diice disposed of the hypothesis that the new man was monsieur’s accomplice; but I went on: "The man who sent this up—and whom I sawclaimed to be a detective in your employ.” Monsieur gave a start.“A detective —in my employ—looks for my daughter! Impossible! When do you receive sis note?" “About two hours ago!" “A detective—two hours ago tells you I employ him to seek for my daughter! What does itmean? ! have employ no one to seek for my daughter—no one. He tells you an untruse. Whit? you sought is his object to ten you sat he seeks my daughter?" “I thought it was a plot against has." plot against Claire! Mon Dieu! Sa I am not prepare for.” Be was too genuinely shocked and astonished for me to doubt his word ■and I thought so, too—and Mr. Rivers, they both saw the note and thought it was a ulot against Claire. The same man wnsil* b— Mwe mahfloAfoe for

Viaire just aner you naa len to go to the hotel for her. Perhaps her fainting here actually saved her from him,” I added, quite keen on the dramatie side of It all and feeling that It was an excellent counter-Irritant to: diamonds. “Mon Dieu! What kind of a plot? And who—Mon Dieu!” Instantly I saw my chance and used ’it: Mrs. Delarlo still had the whiphandle end of the situation; she had hM daughter in her keeping while be was talking about arresting her son! “Mrs. Delarlo and I both thought,” I said firmly, “that there Is a plot on foot to kidnap Claire and hold her for ransom. It could be done.” He shrank as if he’d been struck a blow. “That Is what Mrs. Delarlo came to see me about this morning,” I cried, pushing my advantage as fast as I could. “She is frightened—she believes something is going to happen—and with you in California—” “I am not in California,” he put in hastily. “But It was necessary zat I make some adequate reason why I leave my daughter wis her for day or two—a few hours, only, I had expected—” “Until you can arrest her son! Oh, for shame, monsieur!” I exclaimed hotly, with both real and assumed indignation. He tried to excuse himself, “But ze arrest of Monsieur Eugene Is only a possibility—in case you fail to impress her wis ze wisdom of to return zoze diamonds immediately; a possibility zat you avoid for her entirely.” “Your obligations to Mrs. Delarlo are now such—” “Oui —I appreciate it —ze situation, is changed in an instant of time. ... But zls man —he calls upon you and he asks you some questions about my daughter and you tell him —" “He got nothing out of me —why, of course not! I put him off till tomorrow—l wouldn’t even let him In.” “He returns? And he goes perhaps once more to Madame Delarlo’s and she tells him Claire is in her house r Monsieur bounded up at that, white as a sheet, and I was just trying to reassure him —telling him that Mrs. Delarlo would guard Claire she

would her own child —when the front bell rang. I made a sign to him for silence, thinking it was Billy come back with his news, but wishing to keep on the safe side, went noisily along the hall and opened the door a crack against the chain-bolt to reconnoiter before I let anyone in. It was my unknown visitor of the —-Ue aeteenve i anu somehow I wasn’t surprised!

“What, you here again?” I exclaimed testily, and in a voice loud enough for monsieur to hear —and I knew he was ■ straining every nerve to do it, tod. i It came over me in a flash that n<Rr was my chance to get it “coming and going”—that, having played dn his fears for Claire, I’d see If I could play on his fears for himself; I’d make the detective talk loud enough for mon- ' sieur to learn something.

i “I am sorry to trouble you again—after what you said,” the detective apologized. “But the case is so urgent —if you will spare me ten minutes now, it may save a life.” My reply was to laugh in the man’s face. He drew back a step. "If you come here pestering me any more about anything,” I retorted, “I shall telephone for police protection. I don’t know who you are, or what you are after, but I do know that when you came here the first time, you told me a pointblank Ue and that Is enough for me.” He changed his tactics so suddenly it almost took my breath. He came close to the door and admitted: “That is true —I did tell you a Ue, It was rendered necessary by the extreme difficulties of the case in hand.” “Well—and what was the lie?" “I told you I was looking for the danghter—knowing that you must have some little interest in her and would respond to my note and allow me to see you. I wished to find the daughter, but only that I might find —her father.” He stopped abruptly, as if hoping Fd say something to the point “I told you that I would see you tomorrow.” “You may regret your delay.” His tone sounded threatening. “AU right-then J® — "Keally, madame, I feel I must insist—for your own sake, since you are acquainted with Monsieur De Ravenel—'* —— “Td like to know what you mean, coming here and forcing yourself on me this way?” I cried, in partly feigned exasperation. “You haven’t even troubled to tell me your name, and how do I know what you are?” “Ah—so that is it!” he smiled, and Hght appeared to break upon his un- | derstanding. “You are afraid of me!” , “I am" I He laughed. "Well, that Is a confession! In five minutes—in one minute—l can convince you.” “I .hope you can —tomorrow morning," said X and pressed on the door to show him I had no more to say to I him. He hesitated, and then probably de- ■ elding that there was no more to gain by trying to force me to see him, told me, ‘1 will return in the morning with credentials," and bowed himself off. He went down the stairs without ringing for the elevator. I had totally forgotten monsieur and the diamonds—alone together—and my heart dropped Into my boots as I turned from the door, and bounced up into my throat as I caught the first glimpse of hfia. He had tiptoed to the hall archway and was Dressed mmlnst

it, wnere ne couia near every woru, yet remain unseen. He was actually clinging there for support and shaking —not trembling, but shaking. “Are you Ill?” I asked, for he looked like a corpse. He pointed to Indicate the man who had just left and gasped out, “It is a plot a gainst my daughter.’’ staggered to the nearest chair and crumpled up tn a heap. (TO BE CONTINqED)

My Heart Stopped Beating.

Now Was My Change.