The evening world. Newspaper, September 3, 1912, Page 15

The Romance of a Hoard of Stolen Jewels and of the Mysterious Fate That Dogged Their Possessors. ; (Copyright, 1908, by The CHAPTER 1. The Brass-bound Box. ‘T was a drilliant June morning ‘in Plymouth, and the folk who filled the streets, under the cheery influence of the blue sky and the bright sunlight, went along their various ways things as care or anxiety in the world, f To one man, however, who was strolling about the Town Hall |” with his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his trousers, the gene © Fan brightness of the morning mattered little or nothing. He was a broadly- jutlt, brown-faced individual, roughly dressed tn clothes that seemed to have @een much wear and to have been more than once immer: find the fact that his pea-Jacket was tightly buttoned @rgued that he eltler wore no shirt, or that his linen was not exactly pre- ‘Sqva: wentable. His boots were seamed and aplit, and he dragged his feet a little as he walked, as though he were slightly footsore. His clean-shaven face and hard, Keen eyes scowied at the people that he met, and once or twice, nm the curb In front of the post-office, Be spat on the roadway at his feet in @Pparent contempt or derision. It needed no second glance at to tell that he was down on his luck, and hated all the world in consequence ‘As the clock of the Town Hall struck Uy the man turned and walked slowly into the post-office. He approached that rt of the counter where callers’ let~ ters are delivered, and leaning toward the clerk in attendance, asked in a low voice {f he had anything for John Lind- aay. There was something in his tone which suggested that he had made the same application more than once before, with @sappointing results; his question, in- deed, was in a spiritiess and half-careless fashion, whith seemed to imply that he asked {t as a mere matter of form, and expected nothing in an- awer to jt but a blank negative, The clerk, however, immediately turned to the pigeon-hole labeled “L," and pro- duced a dirty envelope, which he turned over gingerly. “From where?” he asked. The man's eyes giittered for a second, and he half stretched out his hand for v letter. ught to be from West Hartlepool,” he said. The clerk tossed the letter across the counter, finely indifferent to anything connected with its recipient. Lindsay's hand trembled a iittle as he Picked it up. He stepped to one side and tore the envelope apart with rough haste. There was a half sheet of paper inside. with a few lines of writing upon ft. We scarcely glanced at eyes eagerly devoured the sight of the two folded postal orders lying within. Lindsay opened them hurriedly; some- thing like rellef came into his expression as he reslized that two golden sover- elgns were about to lie in his palm He walked over to the counter, selzed a pen, filled in the blank spaces, took up the money which the clerk handed him, and walked out again into the surshine. and.be satisfied, Some are perfectly content they have made their decision; others are tormented by the thought that per- haps after all they have missed the best and selected the worst. The judge in the Maud Muller affair entirely self-decelved, in all probe ability, when he thought that had ho married the other woman he might have been happier. He was doubtl:ss one of those self-crucifying wretches that, whatever they do, always wisn they had done something eli Mark ‘Twain somewhere describes how the new knife looked quite contemptible to thy boy while {t was on the store counter with all the other knives, but was radiantly beautiful when he got it home, That may be true of some na- but others are quite opp y 3 Frank Crane in they Chie News. The minute @ thing Is they despise It. Some girls cannot select a husband, It is not so much that they fear that ‘any one of them would not do well enough; they fear a better one may get I is a rare gift to be At- I WoutD CONSIDER ITA GREAT FAVOR ea The Evening World zine, Tuesday, September 3, 191 Daily Maga Frank A. Munsey Company.) though there were no such in sea water, up about his throat he stood He glanced at the clock. Five min« utes had made a change in his fortunes. Lindsay turned away to the left, and went doggedly through the crowds until he came to the long street which leads from Plymouth to Devonport. Present- ly he turned Into a public house and called for a pint of ale, ‘There weresome pork pies in a glass shade on the counter. He took one out, and then another, and ate both hungrily. When he had drunk the alo he called for a second pint, and helped himself to @ third ple, and went on eating and drinking with a steady persistence. The barman looked at him with a smile. “Got a bit of a twist on, eh?” he said larly. ‘So would you have !f you'd had noth- ing to eat for a whole twenty-four answered Lindsay, with a grow give us one of your best smokes “A strong ‘un, mind.” The barman produced a box of rank. looking cigars. Lindsay picked out one and threw down a sovereign. He count- Jo ed his change carefully, and rang a ¥, IWAS ON THE two-shilling plece which formed part of . BRANMAPOOTRA. it before sweeping the lot into his pocket. “Take a smart ‘un to do you! 1a the barman, laughing. ‘ou're about right, young man,” an- ewered Lindsay. He lighted the cigar, sighed with Pleasure as its flerce odor caught his nostrils, and went out into the street without a word or a nod. There were still busier crowds there— soldiers, sailors, marines, all jostling each other in a good-humored rough- ness. Lindsay took no heed of them, save to swear or curse when one or other rubbed shoulders with him; might have seen @ transient gleam of astonishment flash Into them, Quick as ihought the Hindu crossed the street again and began to saunter up and down on the opposite side. His eyes seemed to see nothing in particu~ lar, but they were never off the door through which Lindsay had disappeared. he walked on and on until he came nearly to Devonport. Mr, Aaron Josephs was reading the Suddenly he stopped, the cigar fell 4 at last. ‘The sar.o after ten yer newspaper when Landsay entered the from his Ips to the pavement and lay wy Well!” shop. unheeded, and his eyes xed themselves 4 ? He took tn the man's poor appearance whieh lay prominently exposed tn a shop face lost the expression of astonishment l¢ssly. | Lindsay's fingers drummed on window. He turned and stared at it; minded fashion and replaced it in his then picked up the clgar in an absent- mouth. As he looked into the shop window he blew out great clouds of smoke; his the counter, “You've @ bit of a box there in the window, mister,” he said as caimly he could. “It's the sort of thing I’ and assumed that of anxicus thought. He sauntered along, the cigar still burn- ing in the corner of his mouth, and hfs hands once more deep in his pockets, his broad chest heaved with excitement forehead puckered into lines and creaues firey like knee a onan wante to Keep re h £5 th Oo t h ’ j and agitation. For a tong tiue he guxed of serious doltberation. locked up. Perhaps we can trade if the and gazed, and at last ste} ac! ‘How to t hold of it again.” he c * c | Watching e er re eeaattcAatinn ee MAE Ht Manat bay aeAih” At ce, tn uch, and a & stron . “Tt the same,” he said, fe ft That cursed pawnbroker will smell @ ° na Aaron Josephs looked into the Side of th e Stre et | nls hand and wiped away the sweat rat iff scem too eager about It, and I've herrogt arene Meee, ogked, into the ° from his forehead, “The same, bY got no money to satisfy him if he He shook his head and glanced back at welll! ; springs the price. Hang it, I'll have tt, Lindsay's much-worn pea-jacket. e to chooss away. , Lal Plp-sih bot pL Rit Leo and though, whatever means I have to u: “It's a beautiful box, that, my friend,” jooked curiously a’ fe shop fron It's mine, he answered, “A curiosity. I'm afrala when gitere are some old maids who are 30 It hore the name “Aaron Josephs” tie crossed the atrect presently and the price would be more than you'd care ni simply bee: e they have never dared jon the sign, and the goods displayed tn walked back in the direction of the sh to giv settle on ono man lest the man thay | the window indicated that the propriet- tn which the brass-bound box lay. His “How do you know?" asked Lindsay. should have Chosen might afterward | tor was one of those general dealers eyes, fixed upon the pavement, took no “Here, let's see tt." who trade In the strange flotsam and Jetsam that come to hand in the course of every-day life in mari- time towns, Mr. Josephs's window was full of all sorts of odds and ends, from come along. This diseased condition of the decid- ing power 1s widespread, Most people wish thay hadn't—whatever it was, If you settle In Kalamazoo you wish | you had gono to Oshkosh instead, | If you send your boy to Harvard you articles of heed of the passers: and consequent. — “O} ly he did not observe a brown man who Josephs. ca toward him and recognized him T know o: with no other sign of surprise than a He took the box out of the window sudden smile, and set it on the counter. Lindsay oilskins to foreizn coins, but to the man He was a small, Mthely-built Hindu, eyes assumed a new eagerness; staring Into It with such rapt attention clad in faded clothes of Nght texture, gers trembled a there was only one object there which and wearing a dark-colored turban, He W Mr. Josephs noticed bis agita- i you can see It," answered Mr, o harm tn looking at tt that wish you had sent him to Yale, seemed worth looking at, klided past Lindsay with the stealthl- ‘lon. I know a woman who was born in|, That oblect was a small box, fash- ness of a cat. But as soon ay he had — “Aye, It's a nice plece of work,” Lind- Hillsboro, I, and the one regret of her | oned of some fark wond and bo passed him, the Hindu turned and say said, trying to appear unconcerned. fn Et Obs e the ‘corners with heavy brasswork, In looked at the retreating figure up and “It'll just hold two or three little may fe 1s that she was not born In Italy. ize it was somewhat larger than « down with swift comprehending glances. ters, What might you be wanting for Whatever is is bad—to you; and what. rhox, but there was that something ‘Then he followed slowly, and so the two {t, mate?" ever did not happen would have beea about its appearance whic ested went along the street until Lindsay Mr, Josephs tapped the id. The box fine. welght. The wood of which 1 came abreast of the general déaler's sounded very hollow. Life {8 a series of wrong selections, | slistened in the sunlisht, but the brass shop. He paused for a moment before “Oh, well, now, what would you give? Quit itt mounting was as dull as though It had he crossed the roadway. You see what t utiful wood it | Don't be @ poor scraggly Wishihada’y | not been pollshed for some time, Lind- At first his movesweuis were uncertain scented too, and the brass corners ‘s Nor a sickly little Wishiweren't. say looked at it again and In, and and irresolute; then his pace quickened lov You don't see a bit of work like Nor a distressed Wishididn't, his eyes grew keener with every look, afd h straight to the shop door that every day." ith and his heart increaged {ty beatings, | The Hindu turned across “I'll give you ten shillings," aald You may remember Huxley's remarks: | His face wore the expression of a ma ‘a’ a different angle and came Lindsay 4s like wall™¢ along a crowded who had sought for somethin va back toward Mr. Joseph's window at a ‘Oh, sthelp me! said Mr, Josephs, st there always seem to be fewe’ given up the search as hopeless, and swift He went quickly by, and snatching up the box and putting it on obstacles to getting along on the op- suddenly come across the very objéct of his al searched the window. a shelf behind jim, “Te hillings! posite pavement; and yet if one crosses desire, They fell on the bras nd box, and Oh, [ couldn't it for five pounds. over matters are rarely mended, | "yes, it's the same! he murmured an extraordinarily observant onlooker "What!" co Asuy, pounds }LOST IT Five 4 YEARS ACP WHEN policeman and Lindsay entered looked up, and It seemed to the po man that thers was something of fear in his face Now, th sail Lindsay, turning to the ‘policenan pointing 10 the box, “this is how things are, 1 hap. M pen’ to be walking along this street and 1 this box in thia man'a window, € Mii: recognia as iny property—lost some ewe | years ago—and th I want It back. rad I offer this man for It and he ha sks pounds pounds! Now I § him ase wh ay and I'l have Ain't that ds! 7 She The policeman 1 from Mr. Jo- iy Replis to Lindsay former seemed My stupetied by Lindsay's last words, ‘Of course, if Its yours, ws yours, J for a bit of wood and brass like that?” | “Ah, but the work, my friend! See | here"—he put the box back on the counter again—"look at the beautiful! carving on the top. note the nice smell of the wood, and the solld brass at tl corners—why, It's a piece of art, ts tha! ‘box. ‘How much?” asked Lindsay. His eagerness was causing him to lose his temper; he spoke snappishly. Mr. Josephs looked his customer over again, ‘en pounds,” he said shprtly. “Humph!" mattered Lind: leaned over the counter, puttli hard face close to the general d “Look here, mister,” he sald, pbor ing that box isn’t yours to sell at all! What then Mr. Josephs started ‘ack, olutching the box in his hands. He looked from | it to Lindsay, from Lindsay back to the box. His face paled a little. Eh?" he sald. ? This box not mine Here, you get out of my shop. want W have nothing \v du with answered Lindsay. It seemed to him that the general dealer was somewhat alarmed, atartling you'll into box, ex Isn't that so?” means, at of ficer ?" “It looks as If it was his box," sald the policeman, looking at Mr. “Of cow aay angril “It's not bought tt said tho policeman, b have to prove It."* ‘Of co anybody say prove that “LHL soon do tha readiness. that things acknowl his shop I pt Just y, hon,” triumph, w that that box, u'll uu don't it's hh that haven't handled that to tap ft om the top. and a date 1889 on It. ‘The pawnbroker turned the box over sald Lindsay, to know wh k here." Lindsay pulled out the letter which he received at the post-office. Platn enough, ain't 1t? Lindsay—that's me. had this morning fro Weat Hartlepo: nay, 1889—the year I became posseased What do you say, “IT lost it flv when I was on the Hrahmapootr I expect the thief #old it to this ere eighteen erlod ry article I buy unpleasant hand that 4 Lindsay grimly. have it’ ave an * wald Lindsay wit mister, cane “Now, since T The Keneral dealer nodded. “Very well,” continued Lindsay, “Turn up that box and you'll And a plate ul ath with the Come, now.” with ma- did t “Look John hat’s a letter I my brother at L: John Lind- of- sophia. Lind- ago and box,” sald year months since the general dealer. was his box, how was I to history article over,’ “Come on Le! 2 ‘The general dealer paused. What wae it that made the man #0 eager to poss seas the bras#-vound box? Could it Be that ft possessed some vatue whieh he himself had n6t credited it with? He grasped It more firmly in his hands and resolved not to be browbeaten, “No,” he 4, “EL shan’t! 1g yours you must prove it in the policeman looked at Lindway’s ng face and foresaw the begim- f a acene. “he «a egal fast . “you'd better do it Go to a lawyer, if you're so particular about tt" What!" exclaimed Lind “To # land-shark like that Just to get my own? Here, mister, you'd better hand it over, or T——" ‘None o° that," sald the policemss. The matter was sliding over his de- main, and he felt somewhat relleved. Can't have any threatening, my man If Mr, Josephs has some property of yours, there's a proper way to get it. You can’t take the law into your hands, in this country. You can't get your box by coercion, of course not,” salad Mr. Jos- ephs, looking at the officer with gratt- tude, “Let him prove his ¢ 1° want to do nothing but wh: right.” Lindsay looked firmly from one te the other. “Oh,” he sald. “It's that way, is it? Ifa man finds another man in poe session of property that don’t belon to him, and that does belong to the other, there's got to be law took about Mt, has there? Very well. You look out, Mr. Josephs, or whatever your namo is, That there hox is mine, and Tl have it. I'd ha’ given « sove to get it quietly, but since you won’ you won't, and dearly you'll pay for 1." He turned and walked out, leave ing the "al dealer and the police- man staring at each other. “Shouldn't wonder 1f it is bjs," sald the polfoeman. “Maybe,” answered Mr. Josepha, “put he will have to prove it first, It came to me in the ordinary way of business.” Lindsay walked straight across the street and turned in the direction of Plymouth, Before he had gone @ hun- dred yards, he heard a close to his ear, and felt lightly on his shou! swiftly and found himself face to face with the Hindu, (To Be Continued) BY CHAR ‘4 Ne The Perplexed Drew Listens to Sutro. LES DARNTON. HAT good actor, John Drew, established himself as an equally audience at the Empire Ti goes as well as his finished art to Alfred Sutro’s four-act conversesione “The Perplexed Husband, tre | $$$ w P it night by lending his trained ear For the greater part of two acts it was @ delight to watch the perplexed away from the play 1 @ household doll, she parasite. ining hei Mr, Drew as he listened to the loquacious Mr. Sutro. In the role of the pus- tled husband of Sophie Pelling, who had embraced woman suffrage with both arms during his absence from home, “What's that you| cess. not my prop. | ter," together with « suffragist whos Tinto a suffragette. called “The Mas- face and manner at once changed ber To make matters more bewildering to her husband Sophie had taken an Ibsenesque turn around the corner of “A Doll's House” and come lf another Nora. Nat content with being if both as principal ledy of the harem and @ His bullying manner tncreased, “Oh,| ay perhaps It's @ case of having to, miste La tod ‘new nothing of Ibsen. He T says, what If that box ain't yo could only reflect that if all he was told about Nora were true, “A Doll's House” What If you've no right to sell 1t? What{ Was a bad play and couldn't have a long run. As for woman suffrage, that was it them as It belongs to should turn up| another cup of toa that didn't appeal to his uncultivated taste. and ask you ugly questions? Eh? Like 0 senattto What if there should be summat said about receiving stolen property? Eh? What it'— “Here! interrupted Mr. that! Josepha. You get out of my ce grew ugly and doter- pi his eyes fixed firmly broker's. 4, on the pawt “All right,” ho off, and T shall be back in two minu with a policeman, mister." He turned and walked quickly out of the door, The Hindu, watching for his 1 suddenly, “I'm coming from the other side of the street, saw him look up and down as if tn h of ceman stood e cor Lindsay t up and spo! ‘at his interrogator and shake his hard. at his loterrogalor. nd aale. ret Watton a to mar an otherwise perfect performe eee ten aitwttfs ed: | ance. A» the chaste devotee of beauty Miss Mary Boland looked freakishly ate that he finally walked back with Lind-| tractive and acted with more humor than simpli Miss Nina Sevening nay to tho pawn-shop. ‘The two men played the young wifo understandingly, but Misa John seemed to think Went Inalde and the Hindu watted ew t hor duty ax @ practical sister-in-law was to pound out every word with ly, for the reappearance, sledgehammer emphasis, Hubert Druce was capital as “The Master,” in spite ~ Conte dine the box, then fhe | of the fact that he served as a horrible example of Mr. Sutro's tedious glibness The verbose rage complica Up to thi ons. man, however, he took up the cause of woman by bringing from bis «irl whose body Hved in Bloomabury, but whose soul dwelt in Athens. @he loved beauty and she knew ft was his beautiful desire to win back his beautiful wife that had led him to give her a°better job than the one she had just lost by mixing poetry with common everyday business prose. '# polnt the play proved decidedly entertaining. Although an ele | ment of the fantastic was introduced with the appearance of the self-styled. Kalleta in the Pelling home, the situation had a certain Gilbertian quality thet Jc made it interesting. But in attempting to mix Gilbert with Shaw, the enter-. s| prising Mr. Sutro made @ rather bad mess of it. The fact is that the tun of his play stopped short tn the Second act, after which there was noth: talk of the most wearlsome sort. thor not only fails in his possible attempt to talk lke Shaw, but he does the obvious thing by using the Bloomsbury maiden with the Gri foul as 4 means to make the wife Jealous and so effect a cure of her Ibsen-suff- With little respect for the dead, Mr. Sutro doesn't hesitate to make @ Joke of Tbsen, though he ts careful to give both sides of the living The Hindu saw the policeman stare! sumrage question, His serious speeches in favor of the causo neriously by Misi office a ere taken so Covrright, 1912, ty tho Press Publishing Os —— (The New York World) ——— © THAT AINT RIGHT To SPEAK SO CROSS TO HER I'LL TELL PoP! INO! DONT, 7 WHAT'S THE WANT IT i) TROUBLE? 15 !T SAY! 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