The evening world. Newspaper, May 20, 1905, Page 12

0 ‘some ‘time to come. We had been getting along so, nicely; fono.6n: article on our own jewel robbery: and for the moment I wis quite ) patlefied with this sort of adventure, 1 thonght we ought to know when wo © wore well off. and could see no point In our running fresh risks before we > wore obliged, On the other hand, | | was anxious not to show the least ) Yilepouition to break the pledge that | find given a month ago. But it was [aot on my manifest disinclination + ttiat Raffies fastened. “Necessity, my dear Bunny? Does writer only write when the wolf mt the door? Does the painter pain: ¢ bread alone? Must you and I be riven to crime like Tom of Bow and fof Whitechapel? You pain mo, (fear chap; you needn't laugh, be: you do, Art for art's sake is a Wile eatchword, but I confess it ap- isto me. In this case my motives absolutely pure, for T doubt if we ar stones, But if T don’t have try for them—after to-night—I Bhall nevar be able to hold up my, : “head again,” 5 His eyo twinkled, but it glittered, “We stiall have our work cut " out,” was all I said. “And do you suppose I shoul he Keen on it if we hadn't?” cried Raf- ‘fles, “My dear fellow, I would rob St Paul's Cathodral if I could, but 1 i “could bag the apples out of an old id woman's basket. Even that liitle " runtrites last month was a sordid effair, but it was necessary, and I ) ink its strategy redeemed it to (rome extent. Now, there's some are Ait, and more sport, in going ) where they boast they’re on thoir i passa against you, The Bank of Eng- land, for example, is the {deal erlb; @nough game for you and me. We know he's armed. We know how Billy Purviscan fight. It'll be no soft thing, A grant you. But what of that, my jgood Bunny--what of that? A man’s “seach must exceed his grasp, dear oy, or what the dickens is a heaven for?" “T would rather we didn't excced ours just yet,’ T answered, laughing, vfor his spirit was irresistible, and the plin was growing upon me, despite ‘my qualms. : “Trust me for that." was hie reply; “I'll see you through, expect to find that the difficulties are nearly all on the surf ) Jows both drink like the devil, and that should simplify matters considerably, But we shull sce, and we must take our time. There will probably turn out After all, 1 These fel- “to be a dozen different ways in which the thing might be done, and we shall have to chicose between them. It will mean watching the house for at least ® Week in any case; it may menn tots of other things that will take much fonger; buc give me a week and I will tell you more. That's to say if you're 4 tealiy on?” “Of course I am," J replied indignantly, “But why should T give you a week? Why shouldn't we watch the house together? ire Aa’ good as four and tike up les Never But don't you look offended, Bunny; “Hecause two e room hhant in couples uuless you're obliged. there'll be plenty for you to do when the time comes, that 1 promise you You shall have your share ef the fun, never fear, and a purple diamond alt to youiself—.if wo're lucky.” > On the whole, however this conversation foft me less than Inkewanm, Sand I still remember the depression which came upen me when Raifles was ‘sf gone. I saw «he folly of the enterprise to which I had h the heer, gratuioue, unnecessary: folly of it Raffles revel Was nevertheless half Aincero, aud which his mere personality rendered wholly pl: (moment of utt it Admired tne spirit of pure mischief in which he seomed prepared to risk “Mis liberty anc ite life, but I did not find it an infections spirit on calm re Mflection, Yet tho thought of withdiawal was not to be entertained for a } Moment. On the contrary, 1 was impatient of the delay ordained by Raffles, And, perhaps, no small part of my secret disaffection eume of } committed myself And the paradoxes in which d, and the frivolous casuistry which sible at the rance, appealed very little to me when recelled in cold blood, if vis galling d ia dt made it no better that this was characteristic of the man and of his attitude toward me. For a month we had been, J suppose, the thickest ‘thieves fn al) Loudon, and yet our intimacy was curiously incomplete. With ali his charming frankness, there was in Rattles 1} a vein of eapricions re~ Berve which was perceptible enough to be very irritating, ‘Atinctive Socretlveness of the inveterate criminal ‘ot inatters of common concern; for example, I nov Mlsposed of the Bond street jewels, on the proceeds of which we were both ye wii) Yeading the outward lives of hundreds of other young fellows about town. He wos consistently Mysterious about that and other © Which it seomed to me that 1h Me had the in- He would make mysteries er knew how or where he details. of wi already earned the right to know thing. I could not but remember how he had led me inte * by means of a trick, while yet wicertaln who } papat Peould no longer afford to resent vant of con+ 27, adence im me now, J sald nothing abouc it, but it rankled every day, and P) Mover more than in the wees that suiceneded the Rosenthal dinner, When | Met Raffles at the clus he would tell me nothing, when T went to hia DWH HA Was out, or pretended to Le. May he told me he was mo than he had thought; but when I began to ask questions ho BAY HO Moe. Then and there, in my annoyance, I tool: my own de- Kane every my first felon ther he could trust me or no but T did resent his etting on well, but slowly: it was a more ee Since he would tell me nothing of the result of his vigils, I deter- nitned to keep one on my own account, and that very evening found my cision, way to the miliionaire’s front gates, The house he was ovcupying is, I believe, quite the largest in the St. John's Wood district. Tt stands |i the angle formed by two broad thor- mec Re WORLD: “SATURDAY. EVENING, tails as he plunged into a still durker Gagged alley to the right. He waa holding himseif up and stepping out like a young man once more; afso, In bome subtle way, ho already looked less disreputable. to see him; the alley was absolutely deserted and desperately dark. At the further end he opened a door with a latch-key, and it was darker yet within, But I alone was there om, OTT TO TW WH T tow sRp— He actually wanted us to let him write his name in bullets on the opposite wall. oughfares, nelther of which, os it happens, ts a ‘bus route, and I doubr if Quiet also was the great square house, in its garden of grass plots and shrubs; the lights were many quicter spots exist within the four-mile radius, Jow, the milliona.re and his friends obviously spending their evening else- In one there was @ side door opening into a glass passage; in the other two five-berred, grained where, ‘The garden walls were only a few feet high, and varnished gates, one ut either end of the little seml-circukir drive, and 1, So still was the place that [ had a great mind to walk jenyn something of the premises; in fact, I was on tho point both wide boldly in and of doing so when I heard a quick, shuffling step on the pavement behind me, I turned round and faced the dark scowl and the dirty clinched fists of # ajlopidated tramp. “You fool!" said he. “You utter idiot!" ute That's it,’ he whispered savagely; '( 1 all the nelghborhood—give me away at the top uf your voice!" With that he tarned his back upon me and shambled down the road, shrugging ais shoulders ind muttoring to himself as thengh T had refused him alms A few moments f stood astounded, sadignant, at a loss; then I His feet trailed, his knees gave, his back was bowed, his head hept nodding; it was the gait of a man eighty years of age. Presently followed Lin he watted for me mnilway between two lampposts. As I came up he was lighting 1ank wobacco in a cntty pipe with an evil-smelling match, and the fiames showed me the suspicion of a smile. “You wet forgive my heat, Bunny, but it really was very foolish of you Here um I trying every dodge-—begging at the door one night—hiding 1 the shruhs the next—doing every mortal thing but stand and stare at the house as you went and did, It's a costume plece, and in you rush dm I tell you they're on the lookout for us night and Its the toughest nut T ever tackled!” your ordinary clothes, Gay. “Well, said [, “if you had told me go before I shouldn't have come. You told me nothing.” Ve locked hard at me from under the broken Prin of a battered billy- cock. “You're right,” he sald at length. “I've ‘beeu too close, It's beromo But here's an end of it, Tin going home now, and I want you second nature with me when I've anything on. Bunny, so far as you're concerned to follow me, bit for heaven's sake keep your dietance, and don't speak to bbe again unt T speak to you. There—give me a start.’ And he was off again, 1 decrepit vagabond, with his hands In his pockets, his elbows squared and frayed eoit-talls swinging raggedly from side to side. T followed him to the Finchley Road. There he took an Atlas omnibus, and I set sume rows behind him on the top, but not far enough to escape the pest of hiv vile tobacco, That he could carry his character sketch to he who wonld only ymoke one brand of cigarettes! such a pitch Tt was the t mortifi~ Once more I folt, the fascination of a comrade who was forever dayaling one with a fresh and unspspected facet of his, character. last, least touch of the insatiable artist, and it charmed away w cation there still remained in me, As we neared Piccadilly 1 wondered what he would do. Surely he was not ging into the Albany like that? No, he took another omnibus to Sloan: street, I sitiing behind him ae befo » At Sloane street we changed again, ware presently In the long lean artery of the King's Rond. IT was now all agog to know our dostination, nor was I kept many moro minutes fr doubt. Raffies got duwn, I followed. and He crossed the road and disappears: ‘ Instinctiveiy 1 drew back and heard him chuckle, see each other. “All right Bunny! studios, my friend, and I'm one of the lawful tenants.”’ Indeed, in another minute we were in a lofty room with skylight, easels, Sent a bullet crashing through the wood within an inch of my ear. dressing cupbourd, platform and every other adjunct save the slane of actual lator, ilk hat on the pegs beside the rest of his normal garments. “Looking for the works of art?” continued Raffles, lighting a-ctgaratte up a dark turning. 1 pressed after him, and was in time to see his voat- and boginning to divest himself of his rags. “I’m afraid you We could no longer paign and tak There's no hanky-panky this time, These are on it beforeha the two « i “T thougis Job all round: moment, “Bxactly, it did no more. the clamor! same primciple The first thing I o an Raffles lit the gas, was Its reflection in his won't find N MS sali eee ara eateieatene enemies eeneeteni siidk ada eemmeeeeeet me up to-morrow nd “You were right a es Gy Saucer. Sees you Ail T want is for you to be night a8 you were then; though, by Jove, afternoon; strvight like putting the nervous pli on that tpsets their apple 80 confoundedly close, You must try to forgive me, menibering how well you Played up last trip. oa 1) Y/R PHL HH LTT LES EY NRE NNN Hea any, hut there's the canvas I'm always going to make a start upon. 1 tell them I'm looking high and low for my iden) model, principio twice a week, and l#ok in and leave a newspaper and a smell of Sullivans—how good they are after shag! Q good tenant {n every way; and It's a y, I have tho stove lit on Meanwhile I pay my rent and am ery useful little pled-a-terre—there's no saying how useful it might be at apinch, As ft fe, the billycock comes in and the topped goes out, and no- body takes the slightest notice of either; at this time of night the chances are that there's not a soul in the building except ourselves.” “You never told me you went in for disguises,” said I, watching him as he cleansed the grime trom his face and hands, “No, Bunny, I've treated you very shabbily all around, There was really no reason shouldn't have shown you this place a month ago, why T and yet there was no point in my doing so, and efrenmstances are just conceivable in which ft would have suited us both for you to be in gen= uine fenorance of my whereabouts, T have something to sleep on, as you perceive, in ense of need, and, of course, my name is not Raffles in the King's Read, So you will seo that one might volt further and fare wore ‘Meanwhile you use the place as a dressine-room?” “ICs my private pavillon,” sated Rafiles. “Disguises? In gome cases they're half the battle, amd it's al- ways that. if the you Dleasant to feel Worst comes to worst, needn't necessarily be convicted inder your own name, Then they're indispen+ fable in dealing with the fences, I @rive all my bargains in the tongue and raiment of Shoreditch, If I didn't there'd be‘the very devil to pay in blackmail, Now, this cnpboard’s full of all sorts of toggery. 1 tell the woman who cleans the room that it’s for my models when 1 find ‘em. By the way, I only hope I've got some- thing that'll At you, for you'll want a rig for to-morrow night.” “To-morrow night!" 1 exclaimed “Why, what do you mean to do?" “The trick,” said Raffles. “I in. tended writing to you as scorn as I ROL back to my rooms, to ask you to look then T was going to unfold my plan of cam- tion then and there, There's nothing ers In first; it's the sitting with their pads t) that was another of my reasons for being I couldn't help re- » without any time to weaken 48 cool and smart to-morrow there's no comparison between 1 wonld fMd It so," Thave, Mind you, I don't say this will b be the tougher we shall probably get in without any difficulty at all; it's the be a bullet insiead. rooms that night, getting out again that may flummos us, household!" cried Raffles You know what “Tlileit Diamond Buyer? Well, it seem that Rosonthall vas one. out to Purvis In his cups. & very sporling game to play we don't want him to sign his namo on us. however, it’s ten to one un:the whiskey, and a hundred to one against us if we go iooking for It, A brush with the heathen would spoil everything, if poor de slang each other. That's the worst of an irregular » With quite a burst of virtuous indignation, “I assure you, Bunny, I spent the whole of Monday night in the garden next door, looting over the wall, and, body Was avout all night long! they ever get to bed at al! thot pasty-faced beast Purvis when they come in, to broad d them sober enough to to blows in the garden within a few that might come i useful and mat the shrubbery of if you'll believe me, some- I don't mean the Kaffirs. I don't helleva is! ‘0, I mean Rosenthall himself, and hey were up and drinking from midnight, aylight, when T cleared out, Even gbon Tf left By the way, they very ney came ards of me, and | heard something ke Rosenthall shoot crooked at a critical 1. D, B, 18?" He must have Jet It Anyhow, I heard Purvis taunting him with it,and threatening hin with tho breakwater at Capetown; and I begin to think our friends are friend and foe. subtle in my plan, It's simply to get in while these fellows aro out on the loose, and to lie low till they core back, and longer, doctor the whiskey, ‘That would siniplify the whole thing, though it's not 5 Stl, we must remember Rosenthall's revolver; But about to-morrow night; there's nothing If possible we must. With all those Kaffirs about, Besides, there are the ladles'"—— “The deuce there ar “Ladies with an {, and the very votces for raising Cain, I fear, I fear It would be fatal to us, stow ourselves away unbeknowns, half the battle will be won, If Rosenthall) turns in drunk, {t's a purple diamond apiece, We will hope not, Bunny; be on one sido; but it's on the knees of the gods. And se we left if when we shook hands In Piceadilly—not by any meang a8 much later as I could havo wished, Raffles would not ask me to hts He said he made it a rule to have a long night before Playing cricket and--other gumes, His final word to me was framed on the “Mind, only one drink to-night, Bunny, value your life—and mine!" Tremembor my abject obedience, and the endless, sleepless night it gave me, and the rvofs of the houses opposite standing out at last against tho Ulue-gray London dawn, 1 wondered whether I should ever see another, and wos very hard on myself for that little expedition which I had made on my own wiiful iceount, Tt was between 8 and 9 o'clock in the evening when we took up our post- tion in the garden udjoining that of Reuben Rosenthall; the house itself was shut up, thanks to the outrageous Ibertine next door, who, by driving away r the neighbors, had gone far towards delivering himself Inte our-hands, Prag- tically secure from surprise on thal side, we could watch our house under cover of a wall just high enough to see over, while a fair margin of shrubs fn ofther garden afforded us additional protection, stood an iiour, watching 4 pair of lighted bow-windows with vague shadows Av. contrairg, if we can manage to! If he sits up sober, ittmay and ail the firing wouldn't! Two at the outside—ay you Thus entrenched, we had jcoarse voices within. Our ‘the purple diamonds was