Payne County Farmer. (Yale, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 18, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
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. ►4’*'*^^ -im-' w*'
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i
•YNOPtll.
Mlsaloner. a i
eulontd whi
g*sw~s
Mil, ■octet
me with t ecreem from
________In the opera box of Mr* *.
Ueetoner. a wealthy widow. It la oc-
* When tin. id—loner’e necklace
attertns the dlamenda all over
--- Curtta Ortowold and Braxton
eodety men In love with Mn Mto-
aMner, aether up the foma. Griswold
(tap* on what la auppc—a to bo the c«U-
fsated Maharanee and crushes It. A Hin-
doo A
r dtamonda la found In .the roenr
“ - mb. confidential compan
olcemb. eonfldentlal
ithatandlna Mm. ‘ Ml—Ion;
her Innocence. Meantime, I
oaten. two Hindoos, wl
to recover the Maharanee, aie-
arreat. Detectlvee Brlta takes
iaa. He aaka the co-operation of
_ a treated.
ioner*a belief
In an up-
a In
>aran—. dta-
_ ,. . Elinor's Jinnee
the mat crlmln:
i.w in running
Brlta leerna that
duplicates of Mrs. Missioned diamond;
were made In Parle on the order of
Bllnor Holcomb. While walking Brit* !e
seised, bound and gagged by Hlndooe. He
la tanprlaoned In a deserted houee, but
tnakee hla eecape. He la convinced that
the Hlndooe are materially Interested In
the ease. Pretending to be a reporter.
Brlta Intervlewe the Bwaml as to the rare
dtamonda of India. Brlta learns of an In-
sane diamond expert on Ward a Island
and decides to Interview him.
CHAPTER XV.
At Ward'* Island.
Trt rather a remarkable coinci-
dence. ril admit." aald Brlta to Pitch,
aa they stood on tbo deck of the little
ferry boat that bora them toward the
Island; "bat It's possible your tittle
old Mend had somethin* to do with
the maktnc of the Imitation Mahara-
nee diamond. You realise thoroughly,
I’m aura, the Importance of that link
In our chain of evidence. It may be
difficult to fasten the responsibility
for manufacturing all the other fraud-
ulent -dtamonda of th# necklace upon
the guilty person, because diamonds
of that site can be Imitated in any
one of aeveral large cities; but the
m«« who made the fake Maharanee la
a past master of hie craft; a man ao
skillful that even the moat expert
artificers of Europe and America do
not protond they can equal him.”
"What makes you think the curio
dealer had anything to do with ItT”
asked Fitch. "How could It bo done?
I thought the Maharanee was made
quit# recently?”
"I don’t know how long tt*a been,"
the detective replied. "It may nave
bean only a few months, and the dia-
mond, It la possible, may have been
copied any time within the paat year.
and hastened to put their promt— Into
execution.
One of the younger doctors showed
himself familiar with the old dia-
mond maker's case, and teemed thor-
oughly to understand his delusion.
“He la now In my ward,” he said.
"Ha h— been there alx months; rath-
er unusual case; harmless but hope-
tops. Can’t rid him—If of the Idea
that diamonds are banked up all
around him, and that all ha has to do
la to make one with hla own bands to
possess the whole of that wealth' la
Jewels. Ha do— hla best to make It,
too. Unfortunately the Ingredients ha
demands Include several dangerous
chemicals, and of course he cannot be
trusted to go pounding away with a
pestla and mortar when hla bralh Is
so far gone that ha la likely to for-
get the combination.”
Tha other medical men looked In-
terested.
“What do you do with him, doctor?"
asked Fitch.
"Ob, I substitute harmless things—
a Uttle bismuth and sodium phosphate,
and a dash of French chalk, and he
thinks ha has everything be needs.
All tha stuff he wants that is not dan-
gerous I let him have. He la happy
enough mixing aad mashing tha pasta
ap'd hammering away all day long. He
rolls the ma— Into dirty little gray
balls, aad thinks thaiy are dtamonda”
"Let us bars a look at him," mid
Fitch.
"Sure thing! You don’t mind If I
don’t go with you? I have ag ampu-
tation' on la about tan minutes, and —
the— la a green nurae helping1 me, I
don’t want to take any chances In let-
ting her monkey with the ether cone.
So you won’t mind, will you, if I ask
yon to run right along by yourself?
Stay aa long as you like."
Brlta and Fitch were glad enough of
an opportunity to question the old
man without an auditor, and with a
brief, "So' long!” to his colleagues,
the doctor piloted the detective
through dreary stretch— In that home
of hopeleasne— to the ward whero tha
curio dealer was found.
In a sunny corner of the long, hi—k
room, the barrenness of which was re-
lieved slightly by a few box— and
pots of geraniums and fuchsias on the
window eill, seated at a bench cover-
ed with odd-looking leather, was tha
That big office building has been leas-' little old man the physician and tha
than a year In construction, and it’s
well within the bounds of fact that
tha curio dealer-received the commis-
sion for the work twelve months ago,
or possibly more."
"Oh." aald the physician, “there In
one flaw In your theory. Ha was not
a fakir. All the Information I gleaned
about him convinced me be was not
engaged In the manufacture of bogus
Jewels. His grand purpose In life was
to make real diamonds."
"Precisely,’* said Brlta. "It la that
fact, much more than anything else,
that leads me to think he may be In
the employ of the persona we are
trailing. Doesn’t It occur to you that
the false Maharanee, In order to de-
ceive Mra. Mlsetoner and all her
friends for so long a time, must have
been such a beautiful piece of work
that it could not have been Intended
as an Imitation? In other words,
didn't the man who made the Imita-
tion Maharanee believe he was manu-
facturing a genuine diamond?”
The little boat grated Its nose
against the Island pier, and tha two
Investigators sprang ashore. As eoon
— they entered the asylum grounds,
their positions were reversed. Fitch
became the mentor, Brits the willing
pupil, for In that abode of darkened
reason were medical men whose hour-
ly association with that phase of ex-
istence made them welcome gladly
visitors from the outer world—espe-
cially members of their own profee
■Ion. Fitch, as he ran up the steps of
the visitors’ entrance, was received
royally in the office by three or four
phyelelana and surgeons who had
known him In his Bellevue days. There
was no Jealousy of his success among
them. He had shot ahead of several
of them, and It was pretty well un-
derstood among the Island doctors
that Lawrence Fitch was rapidly forg-
ing to the fore aa a fashionable
physician. What was more Important
In tfcoir eyes was the fact that ha had
gained real distinction In hla profes-
sion. Several minor but helpful dis-
cover!— of Ms had been recorded
jgratifylngly In tha "Lancet," and mors
than on— hla name had been mention-
«d with flattering recognition-at meet-
ings of the County Medical Society.
Fitch was now In hla element. Ha
graaped warmly tha hands hold out
to him, elapped two or th—0 of hla
closer cronl— an the baok, -and pre-
sented Brlta to the little group with
A few words of Introduction that won
nspoet for the man from Mulberry
Street
“Oot a patient hero, Larry?"'they
asked him Jokingly.
"No," odd Fitch, "not exactly a pa-
tient; but It’s possible you have a
caae hero I’m a Utile bit Inter—tad
la." He recited tha history of the
curio dealer, with- an urg—t request
that everything la connection with the
old man ho revealed to him. Bfita, ac-
customed as ho was to glean hla tacts
was unmistakably ear-
ths vs sits— with which
Headquarters sleuth — ught
In the patient’s face was a rapt look
that told them he waa as far away
from his present environment as If he
had been In the Uttle dingy curio shop
whore young Dr. Fitch flrst had a—n
him. Hla pUant hands had been
plunged many times Into a dough-like
lump plastic as a sculptor’s clay at
one end of the bench. A row of Jara
at the back of tho bench was flank-
ed by a phalanx of vials. An earth am
bowl half full of water stood at his
right hand. Directly in front of him,
scattered In workmanlike confusion,
were several palette knives and mix-
ing brushes. Ceaselessly hls fingers
plucked tiny pellets from the plastic
lump, rolled and patted them, dipped
them In the bo'fc? of water, coated
them with the many-colored contents
of the vials and Jars, then trundled
them upon the board with Industry
purposeful of performance, but pur-
poseless of achievement —
At times a spectral smile seamed th
glow upon bis cadaverous features—a
faint gleam like the specter of a
corpse-light. The sunlight, reflected
from the rows' of Jars and bottles, play-
ed queer tricks with the countour of
hls fate and gave his tireless hands a
ghoat-llke appearance. He was a poor
little shriveled retnnant of a man, the
dried core of what had been a dab-
bler In ihe occult and which along
normal channels might hove been a
distinguished scientist No one look-
ing at him could ever have pictured
him as possessed of the greed of gain.
Brlta, though he made no pretense of
being a psychologist, comprehended
at a glance the outer vision of the
former curiosity shop proprietor con-
veyed little to hie distraught scien-
tific mind. Beyond doubt, the old
man, an Fitch had said, had run the
shop merely as a means to -an end.
Fitch and Brlta stood looking at him
for a few momenta before he became
aware of their presence. When at
last he glanced up, a shade of perplex-
ity flitted acroae hls face, hls flngera
halted, but they did not stop In their
studious task, and he looked at theta
Inquiringly. With a alight shake of
hls head , ha apparently gave up tha
attempt to puaale out their Identity,
and ones more bent hls eyas on tho
bench he firmly regarded aa the thres-
hold to Ooleonda.
“Guess you don’t remember me, Mr.
Martin,” said the doctor. Tho old’ man
appeared not io hoar. Brlta and Fltoh
exchanged glanoee, and the detective
took up tho attempt to awaken a re-
sponse from the aged tamato’a mental
vacuum.
"Pretty busy man, eh?” aald Brlta.
Ha ha<| touched tha,right chord.
Any reference to tho Industry that ab-
sorbed bis fading —ns— was rare to
arouse tho Intelligence of tha old
curio dealer. Ha nodded briskly, sad
want eg with hla work more sealoialy
than before.
"Oot to finish a contract oa timer
jhtf
^H—dfu—taromi
a'
Hla Pliant Hands Hsd Been Plunged Many Tim— Into a Dough-Like Lump.
ed by a swift search of tha deteetlve’e
fa— on tha part of tha old man’a
•unken eyas.
"Rather Interesting work you’re do-
ing,” pursued the detective.
Thereupon Mr. Martin rejoined:
"It is the only work that —n inter-
est me. I have given my life to It”
"Find It profitable?” Inquired tho
sleuth.
For an Instant tho— gray flngera
paused In their manipulation of tho
clay pellets.
"Well, It depends on what you call
profitable, young man," answered tho
ward of the Stats. "There are things
more Important than monetary gain."
"Oh, y—, I know, I know,” said tbo
detective haattly. "I suppose your
work Is purely scientific?"
“It to more than acleneo," answered
Martin. “It la art, philosophy, philan-
thropy—everything. It la the crystal-
lisation of tho beautiful. Loro la beau-
ty, and beauty to life. All mankind
needs la beauty la greater me—ure
and higher degr— to attain perfection
of happiness.”
“And you are engaged in forward-
ing that theory ?“
“Yes,” said the old man simply. *T
have taken upon my—If the task of
glorifying every home In the world
with tho prisoned sunshine of the cen-
turies. Every abode of man, however
humble, ehonld be Illuminated by the
light of diamonds. Tho diamond to
the moat exquisite expression of crea-
tive love wo have. The only trouble
to that we have not enough of them.
It h— remained for me—It has re-
mained for the poor old student of
mysteries to find the key to the true
Jewel wealth of the universe. For
thousands of years men have been
seeking diamonds In the ground. I
take them from the air.”
In similar vein hb ran on, hla words
betraying the strange groping of a
clouded mind that in Its time had
been nearer the truth than most men’s.
There w— something extraordinary
about the little old fellow’s brain. It
had not cracked; rather. It had been
attenuated by overstrain. It waa after
a proc—■ of patient'questioning cov-
ering ao long a time that It ended In
the twilight, that Brlta led the Urol—a
worker back to days before hls arrival
In tbo —ylum. The protracted Inquiry
taxed all the detecUve’a'eklll la word-
bundling.
Fitch, — lentlat though ho was, long
conversant with the phenomena of the
mind — he had been, marveled at the
Headquarters man’s adroitness. Long
before Brits had finished hto t—k, the
doctor, in sheer weariness dropped
Into a chair and stayed there In silent
attention. But the detecUve remain-
ed on hto feet. Immutable — tho In-
carnation of will Itself, and slowly,
cautiously, persistently piloted that
darkened Intelligence out of its depths
back to at lout a gloaming of coher-
ent memory. So guided, so aided and
lifted along tho difficult backward
path, Martin’s mind reverted to In-
stances that hung like stalacUtes from
tho caverp celling of res trot pectlon.
It w— In a fluh of Intelligence, brief-
ly eliminated as a twtakla of daylight
sees from the recess— of a cavs, that
tbo old man recalled the groat triumph
of hto strange craft
*T have made diamonds, yes,” he
—Id in reepon— to n query from tho
detecUve, swift and searching aa a
rapier thrust “beauUful enough to
hang about the nock of a princess;
brilliant enough to glorify tho hut of
a toiler In the fields; but there waa
one—ahl" Hto recollection reveled In
widening circles until Its force was
spent For a long t’me, hla hands
motionless again, he sat g—lng Into
the put Brlta, feeling that he was
on the edge of an Important disclos-
ure, waited paUenUy. Fitch scarcely
breathed.
”1 mind me,” the one-Ume curio
dealer resumed, “of the one great dia-
mond that came — the grand reward
of all my labor. Ah, that w— a dia-
mond! But though It was a wonderful
achievement, I dishonored myself In
the making of it for—’’ and a faint
flush deepened on hls parchment
face, ”1 fashioned It for-g&inl”
Without an Instant’s warning ho
puahod away the beach, dropped hto
face Into hto hands and gava way to
grief that moved equally the man long
hardened to dissection of tho body
and the veteran crime hunter accus-
tomed to vivisection of tho soul. Few
things are more terrible than to see
an old man w—p. It to dual sur-
render, for tears are the prerogative
of youth and womanhood. Brits and
Fitch with difficulty controlled their
own emotions Just for a moment, for
tears streamed over the —hen coun-
tenance of tho broken amateur al-
chemist, and hls w—ted form writhed
and rocked In convulsive eoba.
“I have had my punishment,” said
Martin when at 1—t the temp—t had
spent itself; “but, oh. the long years
—the long years of remorse! Urged
by poverty, that enemy of seekers aft-
er truth and beauty. I succumbed to
the temptation the stranger held out
to me. I made the great diamond as
he desired—and I gave It to him for
hto gold!”
The doctor glanced swiftly at the
detective and started to apeak. Brlta
raised a warning hand, and Fitch
checked hto exclamation. Seating
himself for the flrst time tho Central
Office man—the prober of mysteries—
laid hto hand encouragingly on tho
diamond-maker’s shoulder, and said:
- "Thera now; don’t lot It dlatre—
you ao much. Other men have done
things far won# than that!”
“Nothtng oould bo worse,” screamed
Martin, springing from the low atool
on which ho ast and facing hls visi-
tors In an agony of ab—ement “I
sold the delight of my oyes, tho light
of my life, the star of my soul—tbo
qu—n of all Jewels, the purest, truest,
most beautiful diamond the world h—
ever known!”
"Yes,” said the detective, "but don’t
forget it w— yours to sell. You had a
right to do — you pleased with It”
“I had no such right,” cried the al-
chemist "That diamond w— the
product of my laboring hours. I
brought It forth from tho air, tho sun-
shine. tho silver water, the milk of
the moon, — an Aphrodite Is fashion-
ed of dew and mist It w— not a mere
stone; It had thought and sen— and
soul; It w— a microcosm of tbo
marvelous 1”
Fitch could not hide hls astonish-
ment at the learning and poetry the
fearfully agitated old man displayed.
Brits himself, had not hla thoughts
been focused rigorously on hls pur-
pose. would have stopped to wonder
at them. As It waa be struck tho Iron
of tho alchemist’s remorse at white
heat
“What did tho stranger want with
It?" demanded the detective.
"I don’t know,” said Martin. Hto
voice still trembled, hto features
worked, hls hands fluttered and knot-
ted themselves In the Intensity of hls
emotion. "He came to mo a stranger;
he went away the same, and with him
went my queen of Jewels, my beauti-
ful, beautiful-diamond of diamonds!
But I will And him,” ho shrieked.
“For centuries I have been upon hto
path. He thought all things ended
between us when he lured me Into
parting with my treasure. He said
because he bad suggested the outline
and color of the stone he had a right
to make me give It to him for hls
money; but It was I—I who thruat
into the center of the glorious gem the
Ore from heaven. I penned the sun-
bursts in the priceless prism, and It
la mine. It to mine by right of crea-
tion!"
This outbuixt excited the old man,
but In a little while there waa an-
other outburst of hls emotions. He
fairly shouted:
.“I will have him, though. 1 will
come up with him yet, and when 1 do,
I will give him back hls money and
make him return the diamond to me.
He thought he left nothing to tall me
who he le. He thought I never would
be able to find him In this big town.
He felt sure the old curiosity dealer
would not venture far enough away
rrom hto shop to track auch a fine
gentleman. But he forgot one thing.
I have kept it all these years, and
through It I will find him yet!”
Abstractedly ho thrust his hand Into
an Inner pocket and fished out a bit
of cardboard. Excitedly he waved It
in front of the detective's eyes. Brits
resisted for a moment the Impulse to
■natch It from hls gr—p, but bo
gripped himself sharply. Awaiting de-
velopments was one of the dot—ttve’a
strong points. As he expected, the
old alchemist was In a state of mind
to share hla knowledge with any-
body. After a few more flourishes,
Martin laid In Brits’ hand a man's vis-
iting card, face down.
Studiously avoiding any appearance
of hasto, Brits turned It up and read
the single Une engraved upon 1L
Without the tremor of a muscle, and
with only one swift significant look,
bo passed the card to Fitch.
The doctor, a little less self-re-
strained than the detective, looked
steadily at a drawing on the back,
gased earnestly at tbs Inscription on
tho face, then wonderlngly, before the
*----». be
CHAPTER XVL
Tbs A—1st ant District Attorns/.
While Brlta w— struggling with tho
tangled threads of contradictory ell*
cumstancos that constituted the falp
ric of thw diamond mystery, the die*
trict attorney’s office waa not Inactive.
With tho slow stealthiness of a cat
approaching Its prey It combined the
disco—acted fragments of evidence
gathered by the police Into tho sem-
blance of a perfect c—e, and,prepared
to present It to a Jury. The grand
Jury had Indicted Elinor Holcomb, and
again ahe waa dragged Into the glare
of a courtroom, this time to plead to
the Indictment. There remained only!
the verdict of a petit Jury to open the
gates of etate’a prison for her. Hep
lawyer was served with the fatefuk
notice of trial, and me waa made th
realize the great struggle w— about
to begin.
Assistant District Attorney Mott
w— taking a laat survey of the depo-
sitions In tho cue, mentally picturing
the curtain of gilt he would weave bm
fore the Jury. To hls mind tho evW
dance wee conclusive. It pointed Irre-
sistibly to Mias Holcomb as tbs tblsfj
And yet, tho prosecutor felt there
was something strangely lacking IN
tha structure; something that made lb
appear hollow and unreal.' No other*
reasonable explanation of the dlfia^
pearance of lira Mlsaloner’i neck-
lace offered Itself, aad still It wa*
hard to conceive Mias Holcomb an the
thief. Mott knew that the asm# un-
certainty in tbs minds of the Juror*
would Inevitably result la a verdict off'
acquittal. Tho benefit of any reason-
able doubt as to her guilt muat go to
her, and be realised he had yet to
eliminate that laat alim possibility of
a verdict favorable to the prisoner,
Were it an ordinary larceny case bo
would bo content to offer the testi-
mony at hand aad leave tho verdict
to ths conscience of tbo Jurors Bat
thin trial would fill thousands of news-
paper columns. The pro— of tho en-
tire country waa bn the alert for it.
It meant muoh to a struggling anstoV
ant to obtain a conviction la ab fa*
mous a caae. To lose, he leered,
would reflect on hla own competence.'
The entrance of Brlta brought th*
prosecutor out of hto absorption.
"just tha man I wanted to no,” to
greeted.
"And rm equally glad to find poo
In,” the detective returned.
"I’ve got the evidence down pat*
MoU responded. “It eeema complete!
and yet. somehow, I feel that It to
not entirely convincing. I want to get
something to clinch It It’s a pretty
tough proposition at bent to got a eon-
vlctlon on circumstantial evidence
when the defendant is a woman of
good appearance, and I don’t want to
altp up on this oaae. We haven’t got
muoh time loft The case to on the
calendar for next Monday."
"That’a what I came to MS yon
about,” Informed Brlta. "I want io
get you to adjourn the trial a month.”
“New facts?” anxiously Inquired tho
prosecutor.
“Yes.”
“Who do you think did the trlok?"
suddenly questioned Mott
“Sands, Griswold or the Indian serv-
ant," came from the detective's heel-'
tant llpn.
The prosecutor’s hands went abovo
hls head In a despairing gesture..
“Is that aa far aa you've arrived?
Three suspects, and you’ve no Idea
which one you wantl What sort of ]
weak stuff Is in your possession that
you don’t know whom you're after?”
“The circle to narrowing very quick-
ly,” Brlta observed. “In the next few
days I’ll know who committed tbo
robbery, how It was committed, and
whero the Jewels were taken. But B
have got to have the necessary time.”
“All right,” agreed the prosecutor.
He called a clerk and directed him
to Inform Mine Holcomb’s lawyer that
the case had been withdrawn from the
calendar for a month.
Tho deteotlve waa reaching tor hla
hat whan Donnelly and Canon burst
Into the room. Donnelly’s face was
flushed with the nows of a great dis-
covery. Carson was smiling approv-
ingly on hla partner.
<TO Bk CONTINUED.)
9*
m
t
Bitterly Disappointed.
Here’s a story in the week’s annals
of Maine merchants, this time from
Portland. A Portland tradesman waa
visited by a friend from th# country
and among attempts to entertain took
tho visitor to tho theater. When tha
light* were low the merchant quietly
drew forth a pair of opera glasses
and banded them to hls guest A con-
tented “Ah” slipped from the man
from ths eountry and then hls arms
in the atr Were faintly discernible.
“What’s the trouble?" asked the hosL
Tbo answer came In a distressingly
plain vbiiper of disappointment: "Oh,
nothing, only tbo thing’s empty.”
fM
Good Idea.
Jack Herdup (with unwonted enta*
slasm)—“By Jove! 1 see that eoms
fellow tot talking about Introducing a
MU into tho house making It a mla>
demeanor to tend annoying letter* to
anybody. Vary clsver idea. thaL IB
->.i!
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Ford, C. F. Payne County Farmer. (Yale, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 18, 1911, newspaper, October 18, 1911; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1138678/m1/3/: accessed March 29, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.