Jewel Mysteries from a Dealer's Note Book Page 4

  TREASURE OF WHITE CREEK.

  She was the daughter of Colonel Kershaw Klein, and he was worth amillion, as the society papers said. I had danced with her for the firsttime in the ball-room of the magnificent house her father had rented inGrosvenor Crescent, on the occasion of her coming of age; and I agreedwith the men that she was beyond criticism, an exquisite vision of darkand matured girlhood, so incomparably fascinating that you forget in hercompany some of her bluntness in speech, and set down the voluptuousnessof her glance and mien to the southern luxuriance amidst which she hadbeen reared, and to those "other" notions which prevail in Chili, theland of fleeting republics.

  Some part of this perhaps unnecessary adulation may have been due to thefact that I had helped in the production of her perfect picture on thenight of which I am speaking. The commercial element will intrude atsuch times; and I could not help but see that she wore at least eighthundred pounds' worth of my jewels. Had the value of them been double,it would have been the same to me, for of her father's stability I hadthen no doubt. He had been received and made much of in the highestplaces, accorded the chief seats at the feasts; entrusted--as the oldladies told you--with the most important missions by Government; and ashare in the Western Hill diamond mine at South Africa was not the leastsubstantial factor in the sum of his income. Any and every gem to whichhe took a fancy I had let him have readily, being assured by animportant personage at the Embassy that his credit was unquestionable;and it was a pretty pleasure to me when I first met his daughter toobserve how well my diamonds sat upon her, and how shapely were her armsclasped in the ruby bracelets which had been amongst the treasures ofBond Street but three months before. She was, indeed, a sunny child ofthe South, radiating a warming light about her, tempting you to waitlong for a single press of her hand, luring you to follow the sparkle ofher eyes even when she looked at you over the shoulder of a dancer whofor the moment had the privilege of holding her in the entrancement ofthe _deux temps_. There was keen contention for her programme, butsomehow I found her disposed to favor me, and danced no less than fourwith her, to the infinite annoyance of the many youths who eyed meangrily from their watching-ground by the door. They said that they hadnever seen her brighter; and I was ready to believe them, for she kepther tongue going merrily through the waltzes, and leant upon my arm in alanguorous way that was completely entrancing.

  At the end of the dance--the next being some newfangled "Barn Dance"wherein men scarce put their hands upon their partners--she said thatshe would sit in the conservatory and eat ices; and for the first timeduring the long evening I found myself able to talk easily with her.

  "Well," she said, when we had composed ourselves behind a huge fern, andhad made a successful attack upon the _meringues glaces_, "well, this isabout splendid; don't you think so?"

  I said that nothing could be more delightful.

  "And to think that I've never danced with you before; why, you're justperfect," she went on. "I haven't enjoyed myself right along like thissince I was in Valparaiso."

  "Are the Chilians such wonderful dancers then?" I asked, as she lookedup at me bewitchingly.

  "They just make a profession of it between the shooting times," saidshe; and then changing the subject quickly, she asked, "What do youthink of the crystals now I've got them on?"

  It is not particularly consoling to hear your rubies spoken of ascrystals, but her description was accompanied by such a pretty laugh,and she opened her great black eyes so widely, that I smiled when Ianswered,--

  "Why, they're to be envied in such a setting."

  "You're the fourth man that has said the same to-night," she exclaimed,putting her glass down and tugging at her glove. "I think thatBritishers learn their compliments out of copy-books; they're allpresents for good girls. Let's see if you're cleverer at getting a gloveon than at making pretty speeches."

  The arm that she held out was gloriously white; and as every man knows,the operation of pulling on the glove of a pretty girl is apt to beprolonged. There are fingers to fit, and a little thumb to strokedaintily; while the grip upon the more substantial part of the forearmwill bear repetition so long as time serves. I must have occupied myselfat least five minutes with her buttons, she finding it necessary topress close to me when I did so; and the task was none the less pleasantwhen her rich brown hair touched my face, and her dress rustled with herlong-drawn breathing. How long the process would have lasted, or what Ishould have said foolishly in the end, I do not know; but of a suddenshe drew her arm away and exclaimed,--

  "Oh, I'd quite forgotten; I wanted to ask you about the bull's-eye."

  "I wanted to ask you about the bull's-eye."

  --_Page 82_]

  This was her description, I may mention without anger, of the famousWhite Creek Diamond, which, as all London knows, I have had in mypossession for the last two years. Her father, who was reputed to havesome commission to buy it for a Persian, was then negotiating with mefor its purchase for the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds.He waited only, he said, for the coming of his partner from Valparaiso,to complete the transaction; and it was owing to the intimacy which the_pour parlers_ brought about that I found myself then in his house. Howmuch his daughter knew of the business, however, I could not tell, and Ianswered her question by another.

  "What do you know about the bull's-eye?"

  "That you're trying to sell it to my father," she replied, "and that hewon't promise to give it to me."

  "Have you asked him, then?"

  "Have I asked him--why, look at him; isn't he ten years older since hemet you in Bond-street?"

  "He certainly seems to have something on his mind," said I.

  "That's me; he's got me on his mind," she remarked flippantly; "but Iwish he'd buy the bull's-eye, and give it to me for a wedding present."

  "Oh, you're engaged," I ventured dolefully; "you never told me that----"

  "Didn't I?" she answered, "well, of course I am, and here's my partner."

  She went away on another man's arm; but she left to me a vision of darkeyes and ivory white flesh; and her breath still seemed to blow balmilyupon my forehead. Her partner was a young man just down from Oxford,they told me; seemingly a simple youth, to whom the whole sentence inconversation was as much a mystery as the binomial theorem; but hedanced rather well, and I doubt not that she suffered him for that. Iwatched her through the waltz, and then, after a few words with herfather, who promised to call upon me the next day concerning White Creektreasure, I said "Good night" to her. She give me a glance which wasmore entrancing than any word; and although she had the habit of lookingat a man as though she were dying for love of him, I carried it awaywith me foolishly into the street, when the dawn had broken with summerhaze, and an exalting sweetness was in the air.

  The invigorating breath of morning somewhat sobered my thoughts; butnone the less left the impression of her beauty fermenting in my mind. Iturned into Hyde Park, where the trees were alive with song-birds, andthe glowing flowers sparkled with the silver freshness of the dew, andset out to walk to Bayswater. In these moments, I forgot the prosaicnecessities of forms and customs; and bethought how pleasant it would beif some enchantment could place her at my side, a Phyllis of Mayfair,freed from the tie of conventionality, to look at me for all time withthose eyes she had used so well but an hour ago. I forgot her manners ofspeech, her unpleasing idioms, even the discordant note that her usuallymelodious voice was sometimes guilty of; forgot all but her ripe beauty,the softness of her touch, the alluring fascination of her way, theinsurpassable play of her mouth, the exquisite perfection of her figure.

  Women's eyes make dreamers of us all; and though I have pride in thethought that I am not a susceptible man, I will confess withouthesitation that I was as near to being in love on that summer morning inJuly as was ever a professor of the single state who has come withinhail of his thirty-fifth year with the anti-feminine vow unweakened.

  At Lancaster Gate I paused a moment, leaning upon the
iron rail of thedrive to look back at the London veldt fresh to luxuriance in the dewshowers which gave many colors in the play of sunlight. There wasstillness under the trees, and the hum of the still sleeping city washushed, though day was seeking to enter the blind-hid windows, andworkmen slouched heavily to their labor. The scene was fresh enough,beautiful as many of the city's scenes are beautiful; but I had scarcetime to enjoy when I saw the Oxford youth who had last danced withMargaret Klein coming striding over the grass; a masterful pipe in hismouth; and a very rough ulster wrapped round his almost vanishingshoulders. He gave me a cheery nod for greeting, and to my surprise heseated himself upon the seat beside me; and having offered me a cigar,which I took, he found his tongue so readily that I, who had heard his"haw-hawing" in the ball-room, concluded at once that it was assumed andnot natural to him. And in this I was right, as the first exchange ofspeech with him proved.

  "I've had a sharp run to catch you," said he, "for this infernal dancingtakes it out of you when you're not used to it. I wanted a word with youparticularly before this thing goes any further. Do you know anything ofthese people?"

  "Why," said I, "I might ask you that question, since you made yourselfso much at home there; don't you know them?"

  "No, I'm hanged if I do," said he; "but, if I'm not mistaken, I shall beon very good terms with them before the season's out. You haven't soldthem any jewels, have you?"

  This was such an extraordinary question that I turned upon him with anangry reply upon my lips; but the word changed to one of amazement whenI saw his face closely in the full sunlight. It was no longer the faceof an Oxford boy, but of a man of my own age at the least.

  "Whew!" I remarked, as I looked full at him, "you've made rather a quickchange, haven't you?"

  "It's the running," he replied, mopping himself with a handkerchief, andleaving his countenance like a half-washed chess-board, "we're in foranother six hours' stew, and my phiz is plastic--I'd better be movingon, lest I meet any of my partners; I might break some hearts, you know;but what I wanted to say was, Don't go making a fool of yourself, Mr.Sutton, over that little witch with the black eyes, and don't, if youlove your life, put yourself for a moment in the power of herlong-tongued father."

  This utterly surprising rejoinder was given without a suspicion ofconcern or bombast. Many people would have resented it as animpertinence, and a dishonorable slander upon one whose hospitality wehad just enjoyed; but I had not been a dealer in jewels for ten yearswithout learning to recognize instantly the "professional" tongue; and Iknew that I was talking to a man from Scotland Yard. Yet I must confessthat I laughed inwardly at the absurdity of his fears. Few men had cometo London with stronger recommendation than Kershaw Klein, and even thebanks had trusted him implicitly.

  "Are you sure that you are making no mistake?" I asked, as he buttonedup his coat and looked about for a hansom. "You gentlemen have beenwoefully out lately; I can't forget that one of you cautioned me againstCount Hevilick three months ago, and if I'd listened to him I should beworth five thousand less than I am at this moment. If this man is whatyou think, he's managed to blind a good many big people--and his ownEmbassy into the bargain."

  He thought for some minutes before he answered me, standing with hishands in his pockets and his cigar pointing upwards from the extremecorner of his mouth. His reply was given with a pitying smile, and waspatronizing--as are the replies of men convinced but unable to convince.

  "Well," he said, exhaling tremendous clouds of smoke, "what I know Iknow; and what I don't know my wits will find out for me. I gave you thetip because you've done me--though you don't know it--a good manyservices; but whether you take it or leave it, that's your look out.Only, and this is my last word, don't come complaining to me if thewitch walks off with your goods--and don't write to the _Times_ if herfather cracks your skull."

  He had turned on his heel before I could utter another word; and he leftme to walk slowly and thoughtfully to Bayswater, divided in my musingsbetween the vision of the Chilian girl's beauty and the jewels of minewhich she wore; but for which her father had not paid. I can only set itdown to absurd infatuation; but I admit unhesitatingly that I did notvery much care then whether the financial part of the business left melacking the money or possessed of it. A rash disregard for expense isthe surest sign that a woman has interested you; a longing to pay hermilliner's bills is a necessary instinct to the disposition formarriage. I was at that time, and in the exhilaration of wish that cameof the power of morning, quite ready to let so perfect a creature remainindebted to me for anything; and this was natural since the spice of alittle suspicion is often the most attractive flavor in a woman'scharacter. But the question of the treasure of White Creek was anothermatter altogether. The great diamond was not my own, although it lay atthat time in my safe in Bond Street. It was the property of a syndicate,in which I held a third of the shares; but the others looked to me forthe safe disposal of the stone, and for the profit of ten thousandpounds which we hoped to get by its sale. My responsibility, then, wasno usual one; and the barest suggestion that I was trafficking with aswindler was enough to set me itching with anxiety.

  I went home in this mood, but not to sleep. A feverish dreaming--chieflyof a seductive girl with black-brown wavy hair and black eyes thatsearched and fascinated with an inexplicable spell--served me for rest;and at eleven o'clock I was at my office, and the Chilian was with me.He was a man of fine presence, a long black beard falling upon his amplechest, and a certain refinement of carriage and bearing giving him adignity which is not usual in an American. The object of his visit wastwofold, to pay the bill he owed me, and to tell me that his partner,Hermann Rudisic, would reach London from Valparaiso in a week's time;when he would bring him to me to complete the purchase of the greatstone. He said further that as the season was over he had taken a placenear Basingstoke, the Woodfields it was named; and that he hoped hisdaughter, who did not do well in an English climate, would benefit bythe wealth of pine-trees about the house. He finished by giving me areference to his London bankers, and also another to one of the bestknown of the financiers in Lombard Street. In due course I communicatedwith both firms, and received answers which set every doubt about thefinancial position of Kershaw Klein at rest. The bankers declared that Imight trust him unhesitatingly for such a sum as I named. The otherreplied that the Colonel's brother was of great standing and position inChili, and that he himself carried letters which proved his undoubtedprobity. More complete vindication could not be had; and I went home tolaugh consumedly at the gentleman who had found such a mare's nest, andto wonder if my friends would laugh very much if they heard--how littleI thought at that time of the old pleasantries with which I had oncegreeted the tidings of a marriage.

  I did not hear more of Klein for some fifteen days, at the end of whichtime he wrote saying that Hermann Rudisic was with him at Basingstoke;and that they hoped to call upon me on the following Friday. The marchof events was from that time quick. On the Thursday I read in a dailypaper of an accident in Berkshire to a Chilian visitor, who had beenthrown from his carriage and seriously hurt. The account said that hislife was despaired of, and that he was then lying at the house of hishost, the well-known Colonel Kershaw Klein, who had taken Lord Aberly'splace, the Woodfields. On the Friday morning I received a long letterfrom the Colonel deploring the accident and the delay, more especiallybecause his commission to purchase the stone extended only to the 10thof August, and it was then the third. He hoped, however, that matterswould look brighter at the end of that time; and would bring his partnerto London the moment he could travel.

  Now, at the first thought, this intelligence set all the inherentsuspicion, which is a part of me, at work once more. Suggestions ofdoubt rose again and again, instantly to be suppressed. Had I notsatisfied myself completely as to the Colonel's standing, his means, hisreputation, and his personal character? Was he not staying in LordAberly's house? Had not he passed most brilliantly through a Londonseason? Were there not twenty members of th
e Bachelors' Club seeking topay for the sake of his daughter the fine imposed upon amorousbacksliders? If one were to suspect every man with such credentials asthese, the sooner one shut one's door, and locked one's safe for good,the better for all hope of doing business. Of all this I was certain;and had already come to the determination to put from my mind suspicionboth of the Count and his daughter, when there came to me by theafternoon delivery another letter concerning the matter; but this wasanonymous, and in a hand I did not know. It was a curious scrawl writtenupon a slip of account paper, and its contents were but these words:--

  "You will be asked to Kershaw Klein's house in three days. I told youthe other morning not to trust yourself with the man; I say now, acceptthe invitation."

  This was plainly from my friend of Hyde Park; and I confess that hispompous mysteriousness and pretence of knowledge amused me. Even he nolonger complained of Colonel Klein's reputation, nor advised me now toavoid him. His letter finally quieted my scruples, and from that momentI resolved to dally with them no longer; and to let no silly fears delaythe negotiations for the sale of the treasure of White Creek.

  In this resolution I waited rather anxiously for the coming of Klein andhis partner, but three days went, and I saw nothing of them; it being onthe Monday morning at eleven o'clock that the former drove up to BondStreet in a single brougham, and came with his daughter into my privateoffice. He seemed in a great state of distress, saying that Rudisic,although better, was still unable to set foot to the ground: and beggingme as the time was so short to take the great jewel to Berkshire--hishouse was just across the line dividing the county from Hampshire--andthere to settle the matter that very day. I heard him mechanically; myeyes glued on the exquisite picture which his daughter made; her gown ofwhite delaine showing the mature contour of her figure admirably; andher deep brown hair rolling from the shelter of a great straw hat insilken waves upon her shoulders. If she had fascinated me at the dance,the fascination was intensified there. I would cheerfully have riskedthe best parcel of rubies in the place to have had the pleasure ofkeeping her in the office even for an hour; and I did not hesitate onemoment in accepting Klein's offer.

  "Come down to-day," said he, "and bring your man with you in case wedon't do business, and you have to return alone. I don't like mailingwith big stuff on me; you never know who gets wind of it. I suppose youhave somebody you could take."

  Even with the girl's eyes upon me and her laughing threat to "make metramp at tennis awhile," I had a measure of satisfaction in thisrequest, and thought instantly of Abel.

  "Yes," said I, with a light laugh, "I will bring my own detective. He'sdown below now."

  "That's right," said Klein, "and we'll catch the two-forty fromWaterloo. I've ordered the carriage to meet that, and there's just timefor a snack between whiles. Never forget your food, sir--I don't for allthe business in Europe. I once lost a commission for a railway inVenezuela through a sandwich--but there, that's another story, and I'lltell it you over a chop at the Criterion. I guess I've got an appetiteon, and so's Margaret, eh, little girl?"

  He slapped his chest to signify that a void was there; and we all wentoff down Piccadilly, returning afterwards for the gem which I had placedin a flat-velvet case. I put it into my jewel pocket, cunninglycontrived in my vest, and with no more delay we got to Waterloo and toour saloon, Abel traveling second class, by the bye, and in anothercompartment. There was a well-turned-out wagonette to meet us when wereached Basingstoke; and after a drive of something under an hourthrough some of that glorious pine scenery of southern Berkshire, weentered a short drive edged by thick laurels, and were shortly at thegate of the Woodfields. Of the exterior of the house I saw nothing, for,as I descended from the wagonette, I chanced to catch the eye of thefootman, who had a finger to his lips; and an exclamation almost brokefrom my lips. Notwithstanding his disguise I recognized the man in amoment. He was the "Oxford youth" who had given me a cigar in the parkon the morning after the dance in Grosvenor Crescent.

  The discovery was not a pleasant one. It made discord of all the musicof Margaret Klein's voice--she was quickly babbling to me in the oldGeorgian Hall--and forbade my taking considerable notice of the massiveoak of the double staircase, or of the exceedingly bright-nosed"ancestors" who smiled upon us from twenty gilt frames. Abel had come upto my room with me, I pretending that he invariably acted as my valet;and once inside a very large but very ugly square bedchamber, whosewindows overlooked the prim lawn and terrace of flowers, I shut the doorand had a word with him.

  "Abel," said I, "that footman who drove us from the station must be oneof the Scotland Yard lot; what's he doing in this house?"

  Abel whistled, and by instinct, I suppose, put his hand upon his pistolpocket.

  "Have you got your revolver with you, sir?" he asked.

  "Of course I have; and I'll take this opportunity to charge all thechambers, but I don't believe for a moment there will be occasion to useit. The man's on a false scent entirely. It's necessary at the same timeto act like wise men, and not like fools; and I must count on you to benear me while we're in the place. If there's any knavery afoot, weshan't hear of it until the place is asleep; but come here when I amgoing to bed, and then we shall know what to do."

  I sent him off with this to the servants' quarters, and dressed, thoughan indescribable sense of nervousness had taken hold of me; and I foundmyself peering into every cupboard and cranny like an old woman lookingfor a burglar. The situation was either as dangerous as it could be, orI was the victim of farcical fears. Yet the very shadows across theimmense floor, and the aureola upon the carpet about the dressing tableseemed to give gloom to the chamber. So thick were the walls of the oldhouse that no sound reached me from the rooms below; and when the gongstruck the hour for dinner its note reverberated as a wave of deadenedsound through some curtained chapel or chill vault. What did it mean, Ikept asking myself; the illness, was it sham? the man from London, washe on a fool's errand? my visit, was it foolhardy? Had I walked into atrap at the bidding of a pretty woman? Were all the guarantees I hadreceived in the Colonel's favor fraudulent or mistaken? I could notthink so. Again and again I told myself that the fellow from ScotlandYard was an absurd crank upon a false scent, and that ninety jewelers ofa hundred would have done as I had done, and have brought the stone toBerkshire. And with this thought I took a better courage and hastilyfinished my dressing. I need scarce say that I had the jewel in mypocket when I went to the drawing-room, and that I had alreadydetermined that it should not leave me for a moment. I got rid, however,of more of my fears when I entered the artistic and homely room whereMargaret Klein was waiting; and in the brighter scene of light andlaughter the absurdity of suspicion again occurred to me.

  The meal was an excellent one, admirably served; the wine was perfect. Isat at my host's right facing his daughter, who seemed to exert herselfunusually to fascinate, making delicate play with her speaking eyes; andpromising me all the possibilities of Berkshire rest, if I cared to staywith them over the week. To this her father, the Colonel, who had theribbon of an Order in his buttonhole, and looked exceedingly handsome,added:

  "And I hope you will, for you're not seeming as well as you were lastweek. You people in England live in too narrow a circle. A voyage acrossthe pond makes an epoch in your lives; you are scarce prepared to admityet that there is any other city but London. If you would enlarge thescope of your actions, you would grumble less--and perhaps, if I maysay so, allow that other nations share some of your best boastedqualities. Now I am truly cosmopolitan; I regard no city as my home; Iwould as soon set out on a voyage of three thousand miles as of five. Icome to England, and I do it in ten days from Land's End to John o'Groat's; and when I think I'll rest awhile I ask, Where is your prettycounty? and I settle for three weeks to explore it."

  "I hope Mr. Sutton will do the same," said Margaret, following up hisinvitation. "I want to learn all about the dames who won't know youunless you had a grandfather; and I should like to see a curate who is
passing rich on forty pounds a year. I guess we mean to go right in nowwe're amongst your best folk."

  "I'll stay a day or two with pleasure if you will pilot me," said I, asshe rose to go to the drawing-room; but I little knew that my visit wasto terminate abruptly in three hours or less, or what was to happen inthe between-time.

  A lean, lank-looking butler served the Colonel and myself with coffeewhen she had gone; and after that my host took me to the drawing-room,where I found her engaged in the pursuit of trying over a "coster" song.The Colonel suggested business at once, saying:

  "I'll leave you with Margaret while I go up to Hermann and learn if he'swell enough to receive us; I dare say you can amuse yourselves. I shan'tbe gone five minutes."

  He was really away for twenty minutes; but I did not count the time. Thewhole situation seemed so curious--on the one hand a London detectiveplaying footman in the house, on the other a delightful host, and a girlwhose every word fascinated and whose every motion drew youinstinctively to her--that I gave up any attempt to solve it; and beyondthe knowledge that I had reason to be watchful, I put no restraint uponmyself; but sat at her side while she played the lightest of music; oroccasionally leant back to speak to me, so that her hair brushed my faceand her eyes almost looked into mine.

  "It was good of you to come," she almost whispered in one of thesepauses, glancing up timorously, and speaking altogether in thesympathetic tone.

  "Do you miss the excitement of London?" I asked, letting my hand restfor a moment on hers.

  "I guess not," she replied; "but I miss some one who can talk to me asyou talk; you're going to stop awhile, aren't you?"

  "I'll stop as long as you ask me to."

  When he was gone she went on playing for some minutes, turning away atlast impatiently from the piano, and facing round with a serious, almostalarmed look. What she meant to say or do I cannot tell, for at thatmoment the Colonel came back and told us that his partner was in thedressing-room upstairs, and would be glad to see me at once.

  "Margaret may come too?" he asked me. "She would like to see the greatstone."

  "Of course," I replied; "it will be a pleasure to show it to her."

  I cannot tell you why it was, but as we rose together to leave the roomI seemed in a moment to realize that the affair had come to a crisis. Inthat instant, notwithstanding guarantees, references, Margaret Klein'sfascinations, and the hundred arguments I had so often used to convincemyself of the folly of suspicion, there came to me as distinct and cleara warning as though some human voice had given speech to it. The verysilence of the others--for they said no word, and a curious hesitationseemed to come upon them--impressed the conviction of the monition. Oncein the hall, my uneasiness became stronger, for there at a table was thefootman I had recognized, and as he glanced at me when I passed him hisface was knit up as the face of a man thinking; and he let a glass fallat the very moment we reached the stairs. What he wished to convey I donot know; but although I felt there was danger in leaving the groundfloor, another force dragged me on behind the Colonel, and kept meadvancing unhesitatingly until I had reached the end of the longpicture-gallery with him, and he had knocked upon a door in the easternwing of the rambling mansion. What this force was I do not pretend toexplain. It may have been merely the influence of the woman; it may havebeen my inherent obstinacy and belief in myself; or simple lack ofconviction which forbade any public expression of the fears I hadfomented. I know only that we waited for some seconds in the passageuntil a hospital nurse opened the door, and that I found myself at lastin a very pretty boudoir, where a pale and sickly-looking man was lyingupon a couch, but propped up to greet us. The formalities ofintroduction were accomplished by the Colonel with great suavity andgrace; and the nurse having set chairs at the side of the sick man'scouch, and placed a table there, she withdrew, and we were ready for thebusiness.

  That you should understand what happened in the next few minutes it isnecessary for me to say a word upon the construction of the boudoir. Itwas a room hung in pink silk and white, and it had two doors in it,giving off to other rooms, whose size I could not see since they were indarkness. For light, we had a lamp with a white shade upon the invalid'stable, and two others upon the mantelshelf; while we were seated in afashion that allayed any fears I might have had of personal and suddenattack. The Colonel lounged in an American rocking-chair, he beingnearest to the head of the couch; his daughter leant back against abuhl-work cabinet, she being a little way from the sick man's feet; Ihad a library-chair, and was alone in an attitude which would allow meto spring to my defence--if that were necessary--without delay. Ilooked, too, at Hermann Rudisic, the Colonel's partner, and I confessthat contempt for his physical powers was my first thought. I wasconvinced that if it were a question of fight, I could hold the two menuntil Abel, who was in the servants' hall, came to my assistance; andwhile the others were present I had no fear of any of those wildmachinations which are chiefly the property of imaginativefiction-makers. This knowledge gave to me my nerve again, and withoutmore ado I took the case from my pocket and showed the stone.

  The vision of the glorious gem, rippling on its surface with a myriadlights, white, and golden, and many-colored, in the play of radiatingfire, was one that compelled the silence of amazed admiration for manyminutes. Margaret Klein first spoke, her face bent to the diamond sothat its waves of color seemed to float up to her ravished eyes; andwith a little cry wrung from her satisfaction she said,--

  "Oh, Mr. Sutton, it's too beautiful to look at!"

  "I am glad that it does not disappoint," said I.

  "It could disappoint no one," the invalid said, stretching out a handwhich trembled to draw the treasure closer to his eyes.

  "It's the whitest stone I've seen for three years," the Colonel remarkedcoolly, and then, as with a new thought, he added,--

  "I believe it's whiter than the Brazilian stone in my old ring. I shouldlike to compare them, if you'll let me? The other stuff is in mydressing-room there; Margaret, will you get it?"

  He gave her his keys, and taking a lamp from the shelf, she passed intothe chamber which was behind me. In the same moment Rudisic asked hishost to prop him up higher upon the couch, and the Colonel had justbegun to place the pillows when I heard Margaret's voice crying,--

  "Father, I can't open the drawer--it's stuck; do come and help."

  It was an act of consummate folly--that I concede you; but I was socompletely unaware of any signs of trickery here, and had so forgottenmy fears, that I found it the most natural thing in the world to stepinto the room, and to enjoy helping the girl in her difficulty. Idiscovered her before an open door--the door of a wardrobe I thought itwas for a moment, but I saw at the second look that it gave access to atiny chamber, whereof the walls were all drawers. Margaret Klein herselfstood within this curiously fashioned safe, built as part of the house,and was still struggling with the refractory drawer; so that I had nohesitation--nor, indeed, thought suspiciously--in going to her side. Shelaughed slyly as we stood in the semi-dark together, and my hand fallingby chance on hers, she pressed it, and put her face very close tomine--so close, that to have resisted kissing her would have been acrime for which a man would have repented until his last day. I cannottell accurately how long I held her in a passionate embrace, feeling herlips glued upon my own; but suddenly and quickly she pushed me from herwith a surprising strength of arm, and before I could regain my balanceshe had sprung into the room, and the door of the small chamber in whichI was left swung to with a clang, striking me backwards as it pressedupon me, and coming nigh to stunning me. So thick was this door, soimpenetrable, that its closing was succeeded by the stillness of vaultor catacomb. I had scarce realized the whole trick, or the terriblepredicament sheer folly had placed me in, when I was plunged into theabyss of utter darkness, shut as it were into the coffin that had beenprepared for me. A frightful panic, a hideous terror, an indescribableanger, came upon me from the very first moment of that fearful trial.For some minutes--the first mi
nutes of imprisonment in a room where Icould stand my height with difficulty, but whose iron sides my elbowstouched as I turned--I think my reason must have been paralyzed. Rage,shame of my folly, yet, above all, unsurpassable fear, drove me to beatwith my fists upon the door, which gave me back the touch of solidsteel; to cry out aloud as a man in the throes of painful death; togrind my teeth until pain shot into my brain; to forget, in fact, that Iwas from that time helpless, and that others alone could give to melife.

  When the first great terror had passed, and a mental struggle had leftme with some sense, I leant against the steel door, and thought again ofmy fate. I had little science, yet I knew that the hours of any man,shut in an air-tight chamber such as that room of steel was, could befew. I had heard that asphyxiation was a peaceful death, and think Icould have had courage to face it if a little light had been given tome. But I was in utter weighty darkness; I could not even see that dullred light as of one's own soul shining, which may come in the gentlerdark of night. There was only upon me that sense of impenetrableblackness, the grim feeling that I had come to my coffin, had slept init, and arisen to this unspeakable terror. My whole being then seemed tocry aloud for sight, one moment in which living light should again shineupon me. A great craving for air; a sense of terrible effort in thelungs, a rushing of blood to the head--these things succeeded, and as Isuffered them flashes of thought came and passed, hope extended a handto me, processes of reasoning told me that I should be saved, only toconvince me the more that I should die.

  If I could have reasoned sanely I should have seen that my hope was allbound up in Abel and the detective in the house. Klein, and the invalid,and the girl--they had been gone long since, unless others had put handsupon them. My own servant, I knew, would seek for me first; but even ifhe came to the safe, how would he open it, how cut through these inchesof steel before death had ended it all? It was even possible that thedoor of the strong room was a concealed door--and so afterwards I provedit to be. In that case, how would they know even of my necessity? Thesetorturing reflections threw at last a glimmer of necessary activity uponmy despair. I raised my voice, though I had then the strangest sensationin my veins, and my heart was pumping audibly; and for many minutes Ishouted with all my strength. Once I thought that I heard, even throughthe door, some sound from the other room; yet when I cried louder, andbeat again upon the steel, there was no signal. I remained unheeded; myvoice gradually failed me; I could cry no longer, but began to sinkalmost into a coma.

  How long this coma lasted I cannot tell. I was roused from it, after ahideous dream of waiting, by sounds of knocking upon some wall near me;and with a new strength I shouted again, and beat again upon the doorof steel. Yet, I knew that I was not heard, for the sound of the blowsgrew fainter and were passing away and life, which had come near again,seemed to pass with them. Then was my supreme moment of misery, yet onegiving an inspiration which brought me here to write this record.Recoiling from the door as the knocks without grew fainter, I struck myback against the iron wall, and my pistol, which I had forgotten,pressed into my flesh. Regardless of all thought of consequences, of thepath of the bullet, or the effect upon me of the stifling smoke, I firedthree rounds from the revolver into the room--and instantly wasbreathing the densest smoke. Then a sudden faintness took me; and Irecollect only that I fell forward into a world of light, and thereslept.

  "I fired three rounds from the revolver into the door."

  --_Page 104_]

  * * * * *

  "The joke, was, seeing you living, Mr. Sutton, that Abel swallowed thewine that butler gave him, and was made as insensibly drunk as a man whotakes stage chloroform. I knew all along that the butler was the one towatch; and while I never thought they'd do you mischief in theroom--believing they meant to work after midnight--my men in the groundsclapped the bracelets on the lank chap up by the woods there, and he hadthe diamond on him."

  "And the Colonel and his daughter and the invalid?" I asked, raisingmyself in the bed of an upper chamber of the Woodfields, on the foot ofwhich sat my old friend, the detective of Hyde Park.

  "Got clear away by a back staircase we'd never heard of, through acellar and a passage to the lower grounds! They knocked old Jimmy, thelocal policeman, on the head by the spinney, and all they left him was abump as big as an orange. That girl must have had a liking for you. Oneof my men nearly took her as she jumped into a dog-cart; but she threwthe keys in his face, and he brought them here. I knew nothing aboutthis room, and shouldn't have done except for the ring of your revolver;but the last Lord Aberly built it to take his famous collection ofrubies and emeralds, and that lag Klein evidently heard of it, andleased the place furnished on that account."

  "How do you know that he was a swindler?"

  "I heard of him in New York when I was there last winter. He was wantedfor the great mail robbery near St. Louis. A clever scoundrel, too;deceived a heap of folk by forged letters of introduction, and the banksby leaving big deposits with them. He must be worth a pretty pile; but Idon't doubt he came over here from America on purpose to steal yourdiamonds. He was out at the Cape nine months ago, and got to hear allabout the White Creek stone. Then he must have known that Herbert Klein,his supposed brother, and a real rich man of Valparaiso, was awayyachting in the Pacific; and so he claimed him, and traded on hisundoubted couple of million. A clever forger, and the other two with himnearly as smart. It was lucky for you that one of the grooms here hadheard of a mysterious place in that dressing-room, and led me, when Imissed you, to tap the walls. You were nearly done for, and though youdon't know, you've been in bed pretty well a week."

  "And the man's daughter?" I asked, a little anxiously.

  "His daughter," he replied; "pshaw, she's his wife!--and we'll take thepair of them yet."

  But he never did, although the lank butler is now our guest atDartmoor.

  THE ACCURSED GEMS.