The evening world. Newspaper, May 20, 1905, Page 11

RAFFLES,the AMATEUR CRACKSMAN. _ Second Adventure, 4 COSTUME | PIECE. Y E. W. HORNUNG, Author of «Dead Men T “The Stingaree Stories, March,"’ "A Bride from‘the Bush,"’ &c. ONDON was just then talking of one whose name is already a name and nothing more, Reu- ben Rosenthall had made his millions on the diamond fields of South Africa and had come home to enjoy them according to his lights. How he went to work will scarcely be forgotten by any reader of the half-penny eve- ning papers which rev- elled in endle: dotes of his ori digence and present ied with interesting particulars of the extraordinary es- tablisnment which the millionaire set up in St. John's Wood, Here he kept a retinue of Kaf- firs, who were literally his slaves; and hence he would sally, with enormous diamands in his shirt and on his finger, in the convoy of a prize-fighter of heinous repute, wiio was not. however, by. any means the worst element in the Rosenthall menage. So said common gos: sip; but the fact was sufticiently established by the interference of the police on at least one ion, followed certain magisterial pro- ceedings, which were reported with justifiable and huge headlines in the newspapers And this was all one knew of Reu- ben Rosenthall up to the time when the Old Bohemian Club, having fallen on evil days, found it worth its whiie to organize a great dinner in honor of so wealthy an exponent of the club’s principles. I was not at the banquet myself, but a member took Raffles, who told me all about it that very night. “Most extraordinary show I ever went to in my life,” said he. “As for the man himself— AE TR ree me @ » This is the Second Story of a New Series of **Raffles’’ Adventures, The first—'The Ides of March” —was published last Saturday in a Special Color Supplement free with The Evening World of that date. The third adventure, entitled “The Premier Pa which gives an account of Raf- fles's first “job,” will be published Next Saturday, May 27. EEOC Cee say! He boasted of his rise, he bragged of his riches and he blackguarded society for taking him up for his money and dropping him out of sheer pique and jealousy because he had so much, He mentioned names, too, with the most rming freedom, and swore he was as good a man as the old country had to show—pace the Old Bohemia To prove it he pointed to a great diamond in the middle of his shirt- front with a little finger loaded with another just like it. Which of our bloated Princes could “ show a pair like that? As a matter of fact, they seemed quite wonderful stones, with a curious purple gleam to them that must mean a pot of money. But old Rosenthall swore he wouldn't take 50,000 pounds for the two, and wanted to know where the other man was who went about with 25,000 in his shirt-front and another 25,000 on his little finger. He didn’t exist, If he did he wouldn’t have the pluck to wear them, But he had—he'd tell us why. And before you could say Jack Robinson he had whipped out a whacking great revolver!’ “Not at the table?” “At the table! In the middle of his speech! But it was nothing to what he wanted to do, He actually wanted us to let him write his name in bullets on the opposite wall to show us why he wasn’t afraid to go about in all his dia- monds! That brute Purvis, the prize-fighter, who is his paid bully, had to bully his master before he could be persuaded out of it. There was quite a panic for the moment. One fellow ying his prayers under the table, and the waiters bolted to a man.” “What a grotesque scene!” “Grotesque enough, but I rather wish they had let him go the whole hog and t He was as keen as knives to show us how he could take care of his purple diamonds; and, do you know, Bunny, I was as keen as knives to eH And Raffles leaned toward me witha sly, slow smile that r the hidden meaning of his visit only too plain to me at last. “So you think of having a try for his dia- monds?’ He shrugged his shoulders, “It is horribly obvious, 1 admit. But—yes, 1 have set my heart upon them! To be quite frank, | have had them on my conscience for well, I was prepared for something grotesque, but the fellow fairly took my breath away. To begin with, he’s the most astounding brute to look at, well over 6 feet, with a chest like a barrel and a great hook nose, and the reddest hair and whiskers you ever saw, Drank like a some time; one couldn’t hear so much of the fire engine, but only got drunk enough to make 3 ey Pas man, and his prize-fighter, and his diamonds, us a speech that 1 wouldn't have missed for i Bo oe % ; : tects hout feeling it a kind of duty to have a go ten pounds, I'm only sorry you weren't there, I : ‘ rae . ait ate tes ft af 4 for them; but when it comes to brandishing a too, Bunpy, old chap.” ‘ PATE 4 i in. : ; Agee revolver and practically challenging the world, 1 began to be sorry myself, for Raffles was faee’ . ey 2 t flag ean bk oi, x f m i ‘ : the thing becomes inevitable. ft is simply aihing biv'an édeligbit aerdo, and-aive AE ie sures Pate geste, ede hoes Bec | thrust upon one, 1 was fated to hear that chal I seen him so excited before, Had he been fol : ‘ peasiny i os Wee i } PG Sig UR Vb : ys an I for en SBME Aa lowing Rosenthall's example? His coming to m ON baste by i } a Leh ee ‘ ey aula Be on ny my rooms/at midnight merely to tell me about ao Fe SE Ni SRE 3 ala fe i He ihe nee his dinner was in itself enough to excuse a sus- vt be Be : 08a EPS things bn with us hy ta your picion which was certainly at variance with my i P t “ ” i : F GOES aE SAR : ; man, knowledge of A. J. Raffles, : iY a ; My tone may have been half-hearted. 1 did “What did he say?” J inquired mechanically, ; tl ae , my “best to the e it otherwise. But it was divining some subtler explanation of this visit i af ; Pau S oe beely month since our Bond street exploit, and qondering what on earth it could be, ¢ +? and we certainly could have afforded to behave “Say?” cried Raffles, ‘What did he noi _ . , i « caact | Sate oe yet, ries SE as