The Mannsville Herald. (Mannsville, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, December 8, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
1
s tyml
' 7 v'
cofxtAjrsz4 or f tr a r
SYNOPSIS
Th torr opens lth scream ft1
Dorothy March in 1h opera borofMre
M' loner a wealthy widow
ralond when Mra Mleeloner necklace
break e aoatterln the giamonrte all over
the floor Turtle Griswold and ”ru!"n
ftanie society men In love with Mrs M e-
doner ather up th n il’" !?
tape on what Is supposed to be the cel
tented Maharanee and eruhe IL A II n
loo declares It was not the
expert later pronounces alt the storms
luhetituUe for the oriel nal Or!ofrntom
ml1n diamonds Is found r“
jf Elinor Holcomb- confldentlal
- Mrs Mleeloner
In an up-
who ars In
notwithstanding Mrs
In her Innocence Meantime
town mansion two Hindoos v- - -
America to recover the Maharanee die-
atiaa th irrMt Petwtlvea Brit lane
jn th cs H MW th co-operation of
Dr Fitch Elinor' flaw® In run"’”
own th rnl criminal Brit learn that
SupUcstee of Mrs Mleeloner’s diamonds
aelred bound end gegced by Hindoos tie
te Imprisoned In n deserted house but
makes his escape V® '"llon'Jrreeledn
the Hindoos srs materially Intereetea in
the eaee Pretending to b a rDorr'
Hrlts Interviews the fiwaml ae to the rare
diamonds of India BrlU leorne f an In
sane diamond expert on Wards
and decides to Interview him
CHAPTER XV
At Ward' Island
"IV rather a remarkabla ©dnct
denes I'll admit "'said Briti to Fitch
as they stood on the deck of the little
ferry boat that bore them toward the
eland “but It’s possible your little
old friend had something to do with
the making of t$e imitation Mahara-
nee diamond You realize thoroughly
Tm eure the importance of that link
In our chain of evidence It may be
difficult to fasten the responsibility
(or manufacturing all the other fraud-
ulent diamonds of the necklace upon
the guilty person because diamond
of that size can be imitated In any
one of several large cities but the
man who made the fake Maharanee 1
past master of his craft a man so
skillful that even the most expert
artificers of Europe and America do
not pretend they can equal him"
“What n--®iee yon think the curio
dealer had anything to do with It?"
asked Fitch "How could It be done!
I thought the Maharanee was made
quite recently?"
"I don't know how long lt' been
the detective replied "It may have
been only a few months and the dia-
mond it la possible may have been
copied any time i within the past year
That big office fulldlng has been less
than a year in construction and It's
-well within the bounds of fact that
the curio dealer received the commis-
sion for the work twelve months ago
or possibly more"
“Oh" said the physician "there Is
one flaw In your theory He was not
a fakir All the Information I gleaned
about him convinced me he was not
engaged th the manufacture of bogus
Jewels His grand purpose In life was
to make real diamonds"
"Precisely" said flrltx "It Is that
fact much more than anything else
that leads me to think he may be In
the employ of the person we are
trailing Doesn't ft' occur to you that
the false Maharanee In order to de-
ceive Mrs Mlssloner and all her
friends for o 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 host grated ita nose
against the Island pier and the two
Investigators sprang ashore As soon
as they entered the asylum grounds
their positions were reversed Fitch
became the mentor Brit 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 gVidly
visitors from the outer world— espe-
cially members of their own profes-
sion Fitch ae he ran up the steps of
th visitors' entrance was received
royally In the office by three or four
physicians and surgeons who had
known him In his Bellevue days There
was no Jealousy of bis 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 as a fashionable
physician What was more Important
In their eyes was the fact that he had
gained real distinction In his profes-
sion Several minor but helpful dis-
coveries of his had been recorded
gratlfylngly In the "Lancet" and more
than once his name had been mention-
ed with flattering recognition at meet-
ings of the County Medical Society
Fitch was now In his element He
grasped warmly the hands held out
to him clapped two or three of his
closer cronies on the hack and pre-
sented BrlU to the little group with
a few words of Introduction that won
respect for the man from Mulberry
Street v
"Got a patient here Larry they
asked him Jokingly
“No" said Fitch “not exactly a pa-
tient:’ but It’s possible you have
case her I'nl a little hit Interested
In" He recited the history of the
curio dealer' with an urgent request
that everything In connection with the
old man be revealed to him Brit ac-
customed as he was to glean his facts
toilsomely was unmistakably sur-
prised by the readiness Uh which
ee-h of Fitch' friends promised aid
and hastened to put their promise Into
execution
One of the younger doctor showed
himself familiar with the old disc
mond maker's case and seemed thor-
oughlxto understand his delusion
“He U now In my ward" he said
"He ha been there six month rath-
er unusual case harmless hut hope-
less Can't rid himself of the Idea
that diamonds are banked up all
around him and that all he has to do
Is to make one with his own hands to
possess the whole of that wealth In
Jewels He does his best to make It
too Unfortunately the IngredlenU he
demands Include several dangerous
chemicals and of course he cannot be
trusted to go pounding away with a
pestle and mortar when his brain Is
so far gone that he U likely to for-
get the combination" '
The other medical men looked In-
terested "What do you do with him doctor7"
asked Fitch
"Oh I substitute harmless things—
a little bismuth and sodium phosphate
and a dash of French chalk and he
thinks he has everything he needs
All the stuff he wants that Is not dan-
gerous I let him have He Is happy
enough mixing and mashing the paste
and hammering away all day long He
rolls the mass Into dirty little gray
balls and think they are diamonds
"Let u have a look at him" said
Fitch
“Sure thing) You don’t mind If I
don’t go with you? I have an ampu-
tation on Iq about ten minutes and as
there Is a green nurse helping 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
you to run right along by yourself?
Stay as long a you like"
Brits and Fitch were glad enough of
en 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 stretches in that home
of hopelessnese to the ward where the
curio dealer was found
In s sunny corner of the long bleak
room the barrenness of which was re-
lieved slightly by ft few boxes end
pots of geraniums and fuchsias on the
window sill seated at a bench cover-
ed with odd-looking leather was the
little oid man the physician and the
Headquarters sleuth sought
In the patient's face was a rapt look
that tcld them he was as far away
from his present environment as If he
had been In the little dingy curio shop
where young Dr Fitch first had seen
him His pliant hands had been
plunged many times Into a dough-like
lump plastic as a sculptor's clay
one end of the bench A row of Jars
at the back of the bench was flank-
ed by a phalanx of vials An earthern
bowl half full of water stood at his
right band Directly in front of him
scattered In workmanlike confusion
were several palette knives and mix-
ing brushes Ceaselessly his fingers
plucked tiny pellets from the plastic
tump rolled and patted them dipped
them In the bowl 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 seemed to
glow upon his cadaverous features — a
Taint 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
bis face and gave his tireless hands
ghost like appearance He was a poor
little shriveled remnant of a man the
dried core of what had been a dab-
bler In the occult and which along
normal channels might have been
distinguished scientist No one look-
ing at him could ever have pictured
him as possessed of the greed of gain
Briti though he made no pretense of
being’ a psychologist comprehended
at a glance the outer vision of the
former curiosity ehop proprietor con-
veyed little to his distraught scien-
tific mind Beyond doubt the old
man as Fitch had said had run the
shop merely as a means to an end
Fitch and Brit stood looking at him
for a few moments before he became
aware of their presence When at
last he glanced up a shade of perplex-
ity flitted across his face his fingers
halted but they did not stop In their
gtudlous task and he looked at theta
Inquiringly With a slight shake of
his head he apparently gave up the
attempt to puzzle out their Identity
and once more bent hie eyes on the
bench he firmly regarded as the thres-
hold to Golconda
“Guess you don’t remember me Mr
Martin" said the doctor The old man
appeared not to hear Brit and Fitch
exchanged glances and the detective
took up the attempt to awaken a re-
sponse from the sged Inmate's mental
vacuum
“Pretty busy man eh?” said Brit
-'He had touched the right chord
Any reference to the Industry that ab-
sorbed his fading senses was sure to
arouse the Intelligence of the old
curio dealer He nodded briskly and
went on with his work more tealotsly
than before
“Got to finish a contract on timer
the Headquarters man pursued
Another vigorous Util noU follow
His Pliant Hands
Been Plunged Many Times Into a DougM-lki Lump
ed by a swift arch of the detective’
face on the part of the old man'
lunken eyes
“Rather Interesting work you’re do-
ing” pursued the detective
Thereupon Mr Martin rejoined:
“It 1 the only work that can Inter-
est me I have given my life to it”-
"Find It profitable?" Inquired the
sleuth '
For an Instant those gray finger
paused In their manipulation of the
clay pellets
Well it depends on what you call
profitable young man"’ answered the
ward of the State "There are things
more Important than monetary gain"
Oh yes I know I know" said the
detective hastily “I suppos your
work Is purely sclentlflo?”
“It Is more than science" answered
Martin "It Is art philosophy philan-
thropy — everything It la the crystal-
lization of the beautlfuL Love la beau-
ty and beauty Is life All mankind
needs Is beauty In greater measure
and higher degree to attain perfection
of happiness'
"And you are engaged In forward-
lng that theory?'
“Yes" said the old man simply ”
have taken upon myself the task of
glorifying every home In the world
with the prisoned sunshine of the cen-
turies Every abode of man however
humble should be Illuminated by the
light of diamonds The diamond Is
the most exquisite expression of crea-
tive lore we have The only trouble
Is that we have not enough of them
It has remained for me — It has re-
mained for the poor old student of
mysteples 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 he ran on hie words
betraying the strange groping of a
clouded mind that In ita time had
been nearer the truth than most men a
There waa something extraordinary
about the little old fellow’s brain It
had not cracked rather It had been
a process of patient questioning cov-
ering so long a time that It ended In
the twilight that BrlU led the tireless
worker back to days before his arrival
in the asylum’ The protracted Inquiry
taxed all the detective's skill In word
handling
Fitch scientist though he was long
conversant with the phenomena-of the
mind as he had been marveled at-the
Headquarters man's adroitness- Long
before BrlU had finished his task the
doctor In sheer weariness dropped
Into a chair and stayed there In silent
attention But the detective remain-
ed1 on his feet Immutable as the In-
carnation of will Itself and slowly
cautiously persistently piloted that
darkened Intelligence out of Its depths
back to at least a gloaming of coher-
ent memory So guided so aided and
lifted along the difficult backward
path ’Martin’ mind reverted to in-
stances that hung like stalactites from
the cavern celling of restrospection
It was In a flash of Intelligence brief-
ly eliminated as a twinkle of daylight
seen from the recesses of a cave that
the old man recalled the great triumph
cl his strange craft
“I have made diamonds yes” he
said In response to a query from' the
detective swift and searching as a
rapier thrust "beautiful enough to
hang about the neck of a princess
brilliant enough to glorify the hut of
a toller In the fields but there was
one— eh!" His recollection reveled In
widening circles until its force was
spent For a long t'-ne his hands
motionless again he sat gazing Into
the past Brits feeling that he was
on the edge of an Important disclos-
ure waited patiently Fitch scarcely
breathed
“I mind me" the one-time curio
dealer resumed "of the one great dla
mond that came as the grand reward
of all my labor Ah that was 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 his parchment
face "I fashioned it for gain!"
Without an Instant’s warning he
attenuated by overstrain It waa after
pushed away th bench dropped hi'
face Into bis hands and gave way to-
grief that moved equally the man long
hardened to dissection of th body
and the veteran crime hunter accus-
tomed to Vivisection of the soul Few
things are more ‘terrible than to e
an old man weep It Is dual sur-
render for tears ars th prerogative
of youth and womanhood Brits and
Fitch with difficulty controlled their
own emotions Just for a momentt toy
tears streamed over th akben epun-
tenance of th ’ broken amateur jlj
chemist and his wasted form writhed
and rocked In convulsive sob
"I have’ had my punishment" said
Martin when at last the tempest 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 met I made the great diamond as
he desired— and I gave It to him for
his gold!" v
The doctor glanced swiftly at the
detective and ptarted to apeak Brit
raised a warning hand! and Fitch
checked” his exclamation Seating
btmeelf for the first time the Central
Offlee man— the prober of mysteries—
laid his hand encouragingly on the
dlamond-makeris shoulder and said:
"There now don't let It distress
you so much Other men have done
things far worse than that!"
“Nothing conld be worse" screamed
Martin springing from the low stool
on which he sat and facing his visi-
tors In an agony of abasement "I
sold the delight of my eyes the light
of my life the star of my soul— the
queen of all Jewels the purest truest
most beautiful diamond the world has
ever known?" '-“'
"Yes”te3ld the detective "but don’t
forget It was yours to sell You had a
right to do as you pleased with It”
“I had no such right" cried the al-
chemist "That diamond was the
product of my laboring hours I
brought It forth from the sir the sun-
shine the silver water the milk of
the moon as an Aphrodite Is fashion-
ed of dew and mist It was not a mere
stone It had thought and sense and
soul it was a microcosm of the
marvelous!"
Fitch could not hide his astonish-
ment at the learning and poetry the
fearfully agitated old man displayed
Brit himself had -not his thoughts
been focused rigorously on his pur
pose' would have stopped to wonder
at them As it was he struck the iron
of the alchemist's remorse at white
heat
“What did the etranger waft with
It?" demanded the detective
“I don’t knpw" said Martin His
voice eUll trembled his features
worked his hands fluttered and knot-
ted themselves In th Intensity of his
emotion “He came to me 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 find him" he shrieked
For centuries I have been upon his
path He thought all things ended
between’ us when he lured me Into
parting with my treasure He said
because he had suggested the outline
and color of the stone he had a right
to make me give It to him for hi
money but It was I— I who thrust
Into the center of the glorious gem the
fire from heaven I penned the sun-
bursts In the priceless prism and
Is mine It Is mine by right of crea-
tion!" This outburst excited the old man
but In a little while there waa an-
other outburst of his emotions He
fairly shouted:'
“I will have him though I will
come up with him yet and when I do
1 will give’ him -back his money and
make him return the diamond to me
He thQHgbt he left nothing to tell me
who he la - 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
from his shop to track such a fine
gentleman- But he forgot one thing
have kept it all these years and
through it I will find him yet!” i
Abstractedly he thrust his hand into
an Inner pocket and fished out a bit
of cardboard Excitedly be waved -It
In front of the detective's eyes Brit
resisted for a moment the Impulse to
snatob it from-his grasp but he
gripped himself sharply Awaiting de-
velopments was one of the detective's
strong points As he expected the
old alchemist was in a state of mind
to share his knowledge with any-
body After a few more flourtshbs
Martin laid In Britx' hand a man' vis-
lting card face down
Studiously avoiding any appearance
of haste Brits turned it up and read
the single line’ engraved upon 1L
Without the tremor of a muscle and
with only one swift significant look
he passed the card to Fitch
The doctor a little less self-restrained
than the detective looked
steadily at a
gazed earnestly at- the Inscription on
the faedethen wonderingly befdre the
card fluttered froni his fingers he
read the line aloud
CHAPTER XVL-
The' Assistant District Attorney-
While Brits was struggling with the
tangled threads of contradictory
cumstancss that constituted the fab-
ric of the diamond mystery the die-
trtet attorney's offic was not Inactive -With
the slow stealthiness of a ca -
approaching Its prey it combined tha
disconnected fragments -of vld®no t
gathered b the police Into the eeme - -
blanee qf a perfect case and pr5e- 1
to present It to a Jury: The grand - -Jury
Ead Indicted Elinor Holcomb and
again she Has dragged Into the glare
of A CQurtroom thl time to plead to
the Indictment There remained only
the verdict el a petit Jury to open the
gates of state’s prison for her Her
lawyer was served with the fateful --
notice of ’trial and sne was mad to
realize the great struggle was abou -to
begin ' ’ - 'a
Assistant District Attorney Mot
was taking s last survey of the depo “
slrions In the case mentally picturing 1 “
the curtain of gilt he would weave be- -
fore the Jury To his mind the-evb
dence was conclusive: pointed Irr
sistlbiy to -Miss Holcomb as the hi?f
' And yet’ thryprosecutot felt they
was something strangely lacking to -the
structure something that ptade It-
appear hollow and unreal No other
reasonable explanation of the dlsa
pearance of Mrs” Mlssloneris neck '
lace offered Itself And still It was
hard to conceive Miss Holcomb as the -
thief Mott knew that- the same jum -
certainty In the minds of the Jurors
would Inevitably result In a verdict
acquittal The benefit of aqy reason -
able doubt a to her guilt must go
her and he realized he had yet t® -
eliminate that last Um possibility -
a verdict favorabld to' the-prisoner V"
Were It an ordinary ’Ifereeiiy case he-
would be content M offer the feetb --
monr at-’hrfrM’and leave the vecdlc
to the conscience ef the Jurors Bui —
this trial would ail thousands of news-
paper columns The' press of the en- j
tire country was on the alert for lt
It meant-mucii to a struggling assist-
ant to obtain a conviction In eo fa-
mous a case To lose he feared -
would reflect on his own competent - -The
entrance of Briti brought thte' -prosecutor
out of his absorption- - ---
“Just the man I wanted to se-"
greeted -
“And I’m equally glad to ftndiyow
In” the detective returned ’
Tve got -the e-xldence dbwn 'pat" ’
Mott responded : “It seems complete j -
and' -yet ' somehow I feel that It la r
not entirely convincing I want to gpt 'i-
something to clinch It' It's ft pretty '
tough proposition at best to get a con - -
vtcrion on circumstantial evldenoe - -when
the defendant le a woman of - -good
appearance and I don’t want to
slip up on this case We haven’t got ’ '
much time left The easy Is on the -calendar
for next Monday” - -
“That’s what I came to see-you ‘
about” Informed ’ Briti “I want td ?
get you to adjourn the trial a month -
“New facti-?” anxiously Inquired the ’
— Tg te ’ '
prosecutor
-yes“
“Who "Bo yon think did the trick!"
suddenly questioned Mott "T-
"Sands Griswold or the Indian sere-
ant” came irom the detective’ -heal
tant Ups rZ
The prosecutor” hands went above-
hls head in a despairing gesture
- “Is that as far as you’ve arrived ?
Three suspects and’ you’ve no Idea
which one you want! ' What sort of -weak
stuff Is in your possession that
you don’t -know whom’ your after?"
“The circle Is narrowing very quid -ly
“ Brit observed Tin the next few :
days Til know who committed -the j
robbery how It was committed and
where the -Jewels were taken - But I
have got to have the necessary time" -
“All right” ‘agreed the prosecutor
Ha called a c!erkand directed him---to
Inform ’Mis Holcomb's lawyer that
the case had been withdrawn from th I ''
calendar for-a month- ' " -
The detective was reaching forble-j
hat when Donnelly and Carqon burst
Into the room Donnelly’s-face was
flushed with the news of a grist dis-
covery Cabson was smiling appro-
ingly ott his partner
(TO BB CONTINUED)
Bitterly Disappointed
Here’s a story In the week’s annals
of Maine'’ merchants this time from
Portland A Portland tradesman wa
visited by a friend from th country
and among attempts to entertain took
the visitor to the theater When the
lights were lew the merchant quietly
drew forth a pair of opera glassea
and handed them to his guest A con-
tented “Ah” slipped from th man
from the country and then his arm
In the air were faintly discernible
“What's the trouble?” asked the host
The answer came lxr a distressingly
plain whisper of disappointment: TOh
nothing only the things empty" ‘
prr
Have Got to Hsve th Necessary Time" '
me - - Good de’
drawing on the hack- Uatriup with unwonted enth£
' — etssp)— ' 'By Jove! - I see that zom
fellow 1 talking about Introducing a
bill into the house ftaklng It a mlw
demeanor to “nd annoying
anvbotfy ’ Yery clever Idea that la
':eRUXTO -3 ’
I -T -r i" r
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View eight places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Geers, C. W. The Mannsville Herald. (Mannsville, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, December 8, 1911, newspaper, December 8, 1911; Mannsville, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1792154/m1/3/?q=j+w+gardner: accessed June 22, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.