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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1907)
THE STJNDAT OREGOXIAN, POKTLAJTD, JtTLT 7, 1907.. rrt'?7.- ; totwmi . 1 ' III J ' l : 1 ! I' rTrV' Jcs-1; i C J' r i t ' " 'J"'" y. -i l! P ' i i nf Tic -".all nKftMUKUM 1 IIIUKftllll 111 ilUI!!)ll:Illllilil(llH lit 1 V All -g-a -te,,t ,'? .a r ."- 4. - ..- . J tyf Jr .....The..... m Kleptomaniac 41 Sk f! h fill timiiMmMm i It ' v- 1 PIllBPl 11 1 ' 1 !i 1 1 ii i i 1 1! ! t ! i a little old man with a warty face, hooked nose, wide mouth, stooping shoulders, small beady black eyes, and a generally Inferior presence, but nevertheless with decision of character In his manner, to one who could see be neath, the surface, walked swiftly up the iteps of police station IS and accosted the first man In uniform he met. "There has been the most unheard of crime" he began. ' "Speak to the lieutenant!" the officer Interrupted, nodding toward the desk be hind the high network iron railing. The ugly little man advanced to the pigeonhole window, through which he could see the upper part of the night desk man. "I have just been robbed in the most monstrous way," he said, speaking rap Idly, but with no sign of excitement, "and I wish no publicity " "I'll tako care of that. We don't need tnv advice from you" began the lieu tenant. But he stopped there to glance at the visiting card which the little man placed before him, and when he raised bin eyes again to his caller's face he also raised his body . from his chair and bowed, touching his round silk office cap. "Excuse me, Mr. Emmons," he said. "1 didn't know It was you. We have to be pretty .short here with strangers, or they'd ride right over us. But with the richest man in the district Step In this way. sir, please." He swung wide the gate in the railing. The richest man In the district walked m and stated himself In the chair that the cftlcer drew up for him In a retired corner. . "Now, for, no "publicity, you say? Very well! We'll do ail we can." He waited with respectful attention for the story. - " -. "It's a queer matter," began Mr. Em mons at onto. In the Incisive voice, which, coming from such an insignificant ap puaring personality, always excited sur prise It. a listener and drew his atten tion. 'It the first place I must tell you that a few days ago our firm became pos sessed, In the way of business, of one of the moil valuable diamonds in the world. It has a name famous In history but no matter about that. The chief thing la that !t is worth well, say er " He paused with the shrewd glint In his eye that was known among his business ac quaintance as the sure sign that he was not going tj commit himself, and then added, "thousands." as evenly as If the word were 'hundreds.'" The lieutenant could not restrain an exclamation. "Ah!" he' breathed, his face flushing with the thought of fat rewards. "This diamond," went on the great jeweler, with no hint, either in voice or manner, of the terrific surprise he was about to give his listener, "was swal lowed this evening by my wife's pet mon key, and In less than two minutes after ward the monkey was stolen!" The officer's full, round face became almost anoDletic, "A mo-monkey!" he stammered. "I will give you the main points of the case so that you may know how to start the Investigation intelligently," continued the jeweler. In a clear, rapid, matter of fact tone. They were odd traits, this clar ity of head and speech, this Iciness and poise, which nothing could melt or dis turb, in a man o such an Inferior as pect, never falling to evoke In a stranger, and often in everyday acquaintances as well, the same stare of wonderment with which the policeman was now regarding him as he went on: "For reasons of a strictly private na ture I took this valuable diamond home this evening. Two other men, well-known diamond cutters, were the only living per aons who knew I had it In the house. Jt was to show it to them, and consult with them about it, that I brought it there. We three had been examining it for ten minutes perhaps, and I was hold ing it up to the light between my thumb and fintrer, when the monkey leaped in at iie door like a flash of lightning, natched the stone, and swallowed it. It nearly choked him, and. Jabbering and wisting In pain, he ran to his mistress iur doors away. I followed him Imme diately and found him whimpering in my ife's arms. I thought at first of giving im an emetic to make him vomit it id, but Mrs. Emmons suggested that it o:iJd be safer to call a physician, and hu I decided on doing that. -We might have to cut the animal open. So caution ing her to hold on to him and not let him escape I hastened to the telephone closet, but before I could get the physi cian's number I heard my wife scream, and, hurrying back to her room, I found her collapsed on the floor, crying out that a woman had suddenly rushed In. grabbed Bruno, and fled out of the door with him In her arms. "That Is practically the case. Of course, we searched the premises Inside and out at once, but to no purpose. The stone, the monkey, and the thief had vanished as if by spontaneous combustion. Now ask your questions, for I suppose you have soma to ask?" The lieutenant indeed had; but he was almost too much astonished to speak. If the narrator of this queer story had not been the richest man-in the district he would have thought him either a practi cal Joker or a lunatic. Finally he found his voice. "T here was no chance for either those men you were showing it to " of "Not the slightest. I was always be tween them and my wife's room, even when I was at the telephone. In fact. In the telephone closet I stood fating them, and could see them afl the time through the doorway. Until Mrs. Emmons screamed they never moved from their seats, though then they ran with me to her room. Besides, the thief was seen, and was a woman.", "Is the telephone fixture near Mrs. Em mons" room?" "Yes; but the walls are circular In shape, rounding outward into the hall, so that a person coming from the rear of the house, keeping close to the north partition, might enter her door without being seen by one In the telephone closet." "Hm-m!" The lieutenant cleared his throat. "Why do. you wish to keep the matter quiet, Mr. Emmons? It seems to me the more publicity that is given" "To the lpss of a monkey, doubtless the better yes. But nothing must be known about the diamond. We should be sure never to see it again." "Yes. yes of course. We will work qui etly. Every night man in the city shall be notified as soon as possible to be on the lookout for the monkey. If you will write a description of him I'll see that It Is given to the men. A little reward, now" He looked inquiringly at Mr. Emmons, who nodded. "A hundred dollars," he said. "Great family pet. Worth nothing to anybody but the owners. I think it should be put that way." "Could Mrs. Emmons say . how the woman looked?" She saw her very plainly. She was short, plump, red-cheeked, with black - eyes that seemed to strike out sparks as she snatched the animal, and " with 'hair so white that the contrast between It and her fresh than startling. We knew nobody of that j our friends description, neither, among nor among the servants and tradespeople. Her dress, too, was the oddest imagina ble a yachting cap of blue, with a small visor worn sldewise over her ear. a short Eton Jacket. ..and flowing out from under It a voluminous train of salmon colored satin, over white, high heeled shoes. This train she threw over her arm, covering Bruno completely and hiding him from sight as she rushed from the room.. Her appearance was so wild that Mrs. Em mons took ner lor a crazy perstm unu had escaped from some hospital. That Is what frightened her so. An orainary woman romlne- In on her In that manner " " ,1 .. " . - .o.U fr Mrs . wou a uul lit. c ft " L "'J , t, n, miirir 1 I'.II 1 1 1 K 1 1 1 R IS Ul V O " " " ' " never in her life came so near fainting." roI"v" "8 b",U houfl h9 "You saw nothing of the woman 7" ( TroIea " e "-nger of his great disap 4o" thTdoor Jas beyond my view. E?'n'm ; I ' th mood hi. mind was She must have come and gone ne a flash of lightning, as Mrs. Emmons said. sh didn't know she was In the room un til she saw her eyes sparkling Into her own and felt Bruno being pulled out of her lap." "But where could she have come from and where could she disappear to so sud Honlv?" said the lieutenant, staring at him Tt sounds like witcncran. iiom guess can you make, Mr. Emmons?" was a bigger absurdity still to suppose it Mr. Emmons threw out his hands. possible that a crazy woman from outside "None at all," he said. "She simply or any kind of a woman could be could not get Into the house by the back t there at just the opportune moment that way, through a gate and two doors, all all these various queer things could hap of which were fastened, pass among eight pen at the same time. In short. Emmons servants at least, mount two-flights of! had that princely stone himself, and for stairs, and appear on the scene at the f BOme reason wished it believed that It very instant of time necessary to ccom- i nad Btolen. The great mystery was tial. hat. rtiirnnKft. And if She COUldn t i that A man nf hi. -. i get in she couldn't get out. By the front . . - 1 i . .1 a naa mA way she would be obliged to pass me. None ot the servants saw nerj "No That Is. one of them, a half Imbe cile came to the conclusion that she ha distinguished what looked like a dark shape running down the back stairs to the lweAmont hilt Sne am vv - " ... i Jt l..A nt that conclusion until """""" on and ; something r;ttou. 3n roa that she would be rarded as a heroine "fhatTer denials we the Zffrut? Th. Jest "a, a vlv!d fancy." m m'" The lieutenant, who had m other iSTuVn1" "d.C " j v Sa mn '"Every little straw shows ! nf the wind's direction. Mr. I something Of tne wma u EmTnonB, -nr cd t a and ! he saia. i""' the doors found fastened all right after tne theft as before it?" . Come 10 lliai 'f . j ,,(. ,fr vim tutu . , . , tn ,rv- . i.'.tTriini!- around all the time be- Yes; all locKea up ., " L' tween them and the stairs with plenty of in the daytime. light on-lighter man rh e was absolutely no chance for even a mouse to leave the place unseen in that direction or enter iu inH the roof?" hould certainly have seen anybody i "I sh . ., nn that way. The toot X thr.t.W was not ten feet away from th. room in which the crime was done and I commanded a full view of tnem every instant I was absent from my WThe officer looked up from his notes ouickly. Then he scratched his head. He did not like to contradict a man worth so much money as Mr. Claggett Emmons was? hut It was certain, from the descrip tion already given of the rooms and halls thai if a person in the telephone closet cou d see the two men in the front room in order to do so he would necessarily turn his back on 4he stairway in the rear. A thrill of exultation shot through the lieutenant's breast as he realised that this stairway must be the key to the mvstery. The foot of it was only ten feet away from tlie'door of the room in which Mrs. Emmonds sat; while Mr. Em mons was walking to the- telephone his back must have been turned on It; while he was in the closet his back must have been turned on it also, if he could see the men . who sat in the front room: and, without a particle of doubt, the woman, who had been waiting above, seized this opportunity to accomplish her purpose. She would have plenty of time if she had acted so quickly as she seemed to have done. It was perfectly plain. She had escaped as she had entered by way of the roof. It was strange that a man with Mr. Emmons' perspicacity should over look so palpable a' truth: but he had done so. and it was a matter of warm self gratulation to the officer that he should prove so much sharper than this man of heavy affairs, and that. too. regarding the arrangement of his own house. But be would say nothing about it. It was a case for action rather than words, and af ter he had made the capture and received the reward At this point in the jubilant flow of his thoughts he was struck with a sudden chill. Reward? What was it? A hundred dollars! He had been dreaming of thou sands! "I suppose," he ventured, tapping his book with his pen handle carelessly, "that if anyone in the secret erer who knew about the diamond, I mean should find and return it., the reward " The little old man glanced keenly at hiin. "Of course," he said, nodding. "I understand that. A thousand eh? And Influence supposing the finder needed it. Oh, of course all that sort of thing.'" The lieutenant breathed freer. A. thou sand! It was not so vast a sum as his dreams had pictured, but it would do very well. There were ways he knew of mak ing It all his, dividing only the hundred for the monkey with whomsoever he might be obliged to call upon for assist ance In his search. He could already feel the crisp, delightful crinkling of the bank notes In his fingers. That woman was simply a lunatic he was sure of It who had escaped from her home In some neighboring house by way of the roof, entered by the scuttle oh. It was ail plain. A few minutes searching among the families In the block. But he must not let it be seen that he was getting his money too easily. He would explore the Emmons mansion first, to give some color of labor to his easy task, pretend then with much scientific figuring to evolve a solution of the great mystery, the only solution that could be possible Under all the conditions, walk out with the decla ration that he would return In ten minutes with the diamond, according to the most approved methods of detectives In the fiction thrillers, and then would keep his word, just as they do;- and the next morn ing he would be In all the papers Just as they are, with J10.O0O In his Inside pocket which none of them ever yet got, except to give away, being too delicate of soul to work for mere money! But when in company with a Mr. Em monds and a man from the office, he en tered the hall of the Emmons house, a few minutes later, he grew pale green with chagrin. In his mental plan of the floor he had figured on straight walls and staircases, while In fact there was scarce ly a straight line In sight, and circles. semi-circles, ovals and spirals predom inated to such -an extent that there "" i unaccustomed eye to be a perfect witches' dance of them, turning topsy-turvy all hU Ideas of Interior archi tecture. He stepped into the telephone closet, and saw that, owing to these sur prising shapes, Mr. Emmons had really been right about facing both the back stairway and the front room at the same time, if the ability to see one of these objects out of one eye and the other, out of the other eye might be called "facing." It was near enough to It for practical purposes, at all events, for the walls were so deeply concave on the telephone side and so highly convex on the other, that Close. uie cioset, while It was between the sf Alr an Blairs and the room was far enough back " "l ouoyiuiun, ana. from the certainty that he could In no may explain the robbery, he passed at one bound to the doubt that any robbery had been committed. It was a foolish thing, come to think of It, to say that a monkey snatched that diamond and swal lowed it! Who ever heard of such an absurdity? It was a lie on the face of It. jhu svBn granting mat absurd lie. it . gnoulJ nave mvent(j Bucn ciumay story I. ....... j to explain its disappearance. fiavuis rcacnea mis conclusion, tne lieutenant assumed a magisteial expres sion of countenance and asked to see Mrs. Emmons. The lady received him with an eager smile on her keen old face, in the expression of which the officer saw at once a close resemblance to that of her husband, and Invited him to be seated, ..oh dear, . ,n exclaimed. "I do so hope you will find out about all this! It trying-and such a queer thing! I ver . heard of anything like it in my would not sit. but stood before her, asking every question touching the case that he could conjure up. All in vain, F-mmnn. M him .,- .l. . v..cauJ., and thA mnst sMrrhlnv rmK.riiiAatnnfno- failed to elicit anythln tmct, as already give, failort in HMt onHilnr n .It.. en. She was much more prolix than her husband had been, going into every detail with volubility and minuteness. But the sum of her testi mony was that the strange woman had pounced upon her. snatched the monkey and disappeared, apparently into nothing- ness. The two visiting jewelers during all this time had remained, after their first hurry Into Mrs. Emmons' room, where they heard her scream, where they were sit ting at the moment the monkey seized the diamond, locked in. This was by their own request, Mr. Emmons said, for in the circumstances they felt that to leave would Invite suspicion of collusion on their part with the thief, and that they would better remain until the dia mond should be found, or some definite course decided on. These men the officer now questioned as closely as he had Mrs. Emmons, but with no better result. They had seen a black thing shoot In the door, snatch the stone, swallow It, and scamper out, and almost immediately, hearing a scream, and seeing Mr. Em mons running across the hall from the telephone, they had Jumped up and has tened with him to his wife's door, where they heard her story of the thief. They acknowledged that the whole matter had a queer look, and they wished they were well out of it. But they could not give any information. It certainly would be impossible for anybody to pass along the hall toward the front of the house with out their seeing him, and they had seen nobody. The .thief must have gone to the rear, and if she were not one of the servants disguised, and in conspiracy with the rest of them, they could not imagine how she was able to escape that way. There was, in fact, no possible chanoe for a person to do what, it seemed, had been done. The problem was too big for them. The suggestion of disguised servant infused a little hope into the officer's mind. He had now become convinced that it was as absurd to suspect Mr. Emmons, as he had formerly thought it was to suppose that the bast snould swallow the stone. These men vowed they had seen the swallowing, and hon esty and distress were too evident in their words and manners to be disputed. Besides, even if this very rich man were not above secreting the diamond his in tellect certainly was above concocting such a paltry scheme for doing tt. On the notion of a servant In disguise he based his last hope, and asked to have , them every one, men and women, sum moned before him." . - But at the very first view of thein this last hope vanished. The thief was short and stout, and by the same ac cursed spite of fate which seemed to have met the lieutenant at each turn and crossing of this case, every man and woman among these servants was thin and tall! The butler, it seemed, who hired all the help, was a lath in shape himself', and, maintaining that short, stout people were usually drinkers and always slow, if not downright lazy, he would have none of them. The officer in disgust motioned them away. A short person may by the exercise of skill and taste be made up to resemble a taller one, hut the reverse metamorphosis is out of the question. Monsieur Lococq himself never could have turned a tall spindle shanks into a chunky sawed-off. With this wise reflection the officer made a few notes, ostensibly 'of great importance, but really only for appear ance sake, and promising Mr. Emmons that every effort should be made for the apprehension of the thief was about to take his departure with his assist ant, when he thought of the servant who claimed to have seen the dark shape gliding down the basement stairs. So he had her brought back to him, and put her through such a rigorous exam ination ' that she suddenly burst out crying, supposing that he was charging her with the theft. It was plain that she was a woman who could see shad ows anywhere. He gave her up for a fool, and then it occurred to him to ex plore the back way and see things down there for, himself. He did so, but learned nothing except that it would be absolutely impossible for anybody to come in that way unseen by the serv ants. Finally he searched Mrs. Em mons' room, she giving him full liberty to do so, pulling out drawers for him herself and moving tables and sofas around, till not a square Inch in the apartment remained unseen by him. Then he went away. Though he left encouraging words behind him for the benefit of the husband and wife he felt that as far as he was concerned the case was closed. I "Docther Fur-rnivall, sor-r," said Sergeant Nulty, with red face and bulg ing eyes, "c'n a monkey swally a rooty baggey ter-rnip?" " "What's that?" said Dr. Furnlvall, wheeling around in his chair. Seeing Sergeant Nulty's head, helmetless, sticking around the" edge of the door, he smiled a welcome. "Come in, ser geant," he invited. "What's up now?" "Well, noo, J;ls wan shtrange thing," answered the sergeant, stepping care fully over the polished floor to the chair the doctor Indicated. "Here's wan mon cooms rhunnin' f th' shtatlon wid blood In hfs eye, an' he says, says he, 'B'yes,' he says, "here's a tousan' dol lars," he says, 'fer a woman an' a mon key, an' she swalleyed it,' he says, 'b't 'twas a dimont.' he says, 'an' th' wom an swiped it off me,' he says, 'an' 'twas noi me own, b't me wbife's," he says, 'an',' he says, 'Oi'll give," he says, 'a tousan' dollars fer her an' she's th' sotze of a rooty bagy tur-rnip, or mabbe a car-rtwheel,' he says." "That Is rather strange," says the doctor dryly. "Aren't you somewhat excited Nulty?" "Well, mebbe!" The sergeant, with a deep breath relaxed himself, and pro ceeded more calmly: "Has a monkey a t'roat on him. like a whale, an' c'n he swally a dimont. Just as big as him sel', an' walk off wid it unbeknownst, an' thin swally himsel' forby an' dhrop out of th' wor-rld at wanct, loike tbim moving picthures off th' shtage? Be cos, af he c'n do that same, he's a won dher, an' af he cannot, the's a t'ousan' dollars in ut, an' ayther way aboot he's afther bein' a val'able craythur, what iver, an' wort' th' throuble. jlst, or OI mips me guess intirely." It required some minutes of hard work on the doctor's part to arrive at the excited sergeant's meaning, but finally he succeeded, end was in pos session of toe strange tale of Mr. Em mons' loss. The sergeant had a theory, and wished Ir. Furnlvall's aid in work ing it out. He believed that Emmons had the diamond, that the whole thing was a conspiracy between Emmona, his wife, and the two Jewelers, and that Dr. Furnlvall. with his hypnotism, could get at the troth of the matter in two minutes by interviewing Emmons. He basec bis conclusions on two facta tne lmpossioimy oi; a monjtey s swai- lowing such a nothing cf th an enormous stone, to say beast's miraculous dis appearance, and the self-evident truth that no thief could have escaped in the circumstances as this alleged one had done. As for the first. Dr. Furnlvall asked him: "Did Emmons say how big the dia mond was?" "He did, begob 'twas wort' t'ousan's of dollars!" "Oh. I see! Because it was worth thousands it must be as big as a cart wheel?" "Shure! Thy, me woife has wan wid twlnty-seven pearls set round ut that cost $4, th" soixe of a pratie bs.U, an' phwat wud fifty t'onsaner be loike?" He was deeply chagrined to learn his mistake thct the value of precious stones depends on quality as well as size; that the capacities of different monkeys' throats vary aa widely as those of the human family, some mem bers of which cannot take a pill, while others can swallow a handful of swords; and" that therefore It was qii within the bounds of belief that this animal had done as represented, or could do so. The second point of the sergeant's theory Dr. Furnlvall admit ted. But, then, what of ft? "Why should I mix ut In this af fair?" the doctor said. "Nothing is p.t stake, no innocent person is accuseJ; it is a trivial affair, of no interest whatever to me. What is the philo sophic or scientific value of the fact that a rich Jeweler has lost a diamond, or has stolen one?" The sergeant looked disappointed. He moved uneasily In his chair, and ruffled his mustache with a quick rub of his hand. Then a shrewd beam flicked into his blue eyes." '"Shure, docther." he said. depre- catingly, "i'c wud not lave thim su. J yex is bate, an' th' job is wan too much for yez!" "Dr. Furnivall regarded him tolerant ly through his colored spectacles. "Nulty," he returned, with Just a hint of sharpness in his voice, "no doubt you have set many persons by the ears in your time by that sort of argu ment! A 'stump yer' or 'dare' may work with children and imbeciles, but I didn't suppose you were ass enough to think it would have any effect on me." "B't, docther! Jist luk at it, now! How th' quare woman wlnt oop in air kn" th' monkey. Jlst phwere wes th' chanct fer him " "Nulty, out with it, now, and no more evasions! What Is the real rea son why you wish me to take up this matter?" The Sergeant's face grew violently red. and he looked sheepishly at the floor. "Well, thin, docther, dear," he said, slowly. "OJ,, knows Ol c'n kape nothing at all fr'm yez b't b't f tell th' trut', me woife is ailin' an' nades th' couni thry air, an' shure Oi'm near broke, phwat wid wan thing an' anither. an" this an' that, an' I tort th' reward, or me own share of ut " "You should have said so at once. That adds just the touch of human interest to the case which alone makes anything worth while " "Will yez talke it, docther?" cried Nulty, jumping up with glistening eyes. "Faith, I'll rhun out f th' tilephone an' tell Maggie t' pack oop fer free mont's in th' counthry tomorry wornin' on th' tln-twinty that laves at noon " "Don't get rattled again, Nulty. I thought something was wrong with you when you came in. and I am sorry to learn that it is your wife's sickness that troubles you. But say nothing un til you get your money. We haven't found the diamond yet " Nulty curled his lip in disdain. "As good as as good as!" he said. "An', by gob, Oi hov th' reward all spint! 'Tis something fine, Oi tell yez, docther, f splnd ut wanst before yez git ut an' wanst afther, an' thin.lf yez do not git ut at all, phy, thin yez hov lost nothing, an' av yez do git ut yez c'ti put ut in th' bank." Dr. Furnivall, during this lucid for mulationjof a-philosophy as old as the beginnings of poverty, was selecting an Instrument or two from his surgical case and preparing an emetic. With these in his pocket he took his hat and told Nulty to lead the way to the Em mons house. "I won't venture any theory yet, though I have the threads of one in ray mind," he said as they walked along. "I know nothing whatever of the charac ters of these different persons who figure in the case. I have never seen any of them even, that I am aware of. The right beginning, however, is- with Emmons, and if we find him at home" "Shure we will thot!" said the ser geant. " Twes" wid an eye fer his hours, just, that Ol coom fer ye. Oi knows thim well. He's wid his woife this minute." And so they found him. Dr. Furnival talked with them both a few minutes and then drew the husband aside. "Mr. Emmons." he said, regarding him through his spectacles, "have you no the ory of this matter?" The little man stooped forward, his beady black eves growing even smaller and more brilliantly black, and crossed his wrist over his walHtband. "I had none but on thinking it all over I believe I have," he answered, incisve- ir. T understand that there is a reward, offered by you, of J1000 for the recovery of the diamond. "That Is correct." he returned, in the same tone. "No matter who is hit by the detection of the guilty person V "None whatever. If you are the great Dr. Furnival, the hypnotist, who can read men's souls like an open book, you should have no need to ask that ques tion." "I can read no man's eoul- Neither would, I care to do so if I could. But I can read some things, and one of them is that you would sooner see this person of whom we both speak humiliated than any one else. In fact, you know well who has the stone, and you are Irritated al most to insanity because you can't force the possessor to give it up." Mr.- Emmons bowed coldly. "I honor your perspicacity," he said, ironically. "Perhaus if you had my rea sons you would feel aa I do." " "I have no doubt of it. Still, you are wrong. The whole difficulty is as much your fault aa hers. Kleptomania is a dis ease, anfl should be treated as such. It sticks out all over her." "All I want is the diamond," he said, adding quickly, "and to know how she managed the business." ' "We will arrange that on one condl- The 11000?" he interrupted, with irony. Dr. Furnlvall went on: "It is that when you have received this information and recovered the stone you will call in the physician for your , wife that I shall name to you." The ugly little man hesitated. A brignt color flowed into his cheeks, as of burning anger, but he etlll held to his coldness of manner. "Very well: I agree on condition that you fulfill your promise." he finally said. It was plain that he was doubtful of this alleged hpynotlc power; and. Indeed, he added, as Dr. Furnlvall removed his spec tacles and started toward Mrs. Emmons: "I think you'll find your match there." She was not a promising spectacle to one who fondly looked upon softness and loveahility as the distinguishing charac teristics of the sex. Small, wrinkled, pet tish with nerves of fire and a will that lay cold in her glittering little beads of eyes, unbreakable, not to foe bent, and merciless as fate, she resembled her Kffs band so strongly that one would say they were brother and!sister. rather than hus band and wife. But Dr. Furnlvall was Interested only in her disease, the indlca ations of which he saw in her eyes and around the homely, quivering month and pointed chin, as well as in the shape of her head. The strength of ber will would be a help to him in his hypnotism, rather than an obstacle: and with Sergeant Nulty standing a little behind her on one side of her chair, scarcely able. to refrain from dancing in Jubilation over the com ing fruition of his hopes; and Mr. Em mons on the other side, darkly attentive, the doctor looked her in the eye and talked "with her easily a moment or two about the strange robbery. And when he saw the various inevitable changes pass over her keen. hard, nervous face, sur prise at first, then excitement, running swiftly into earnestness and ending in fixed introspection, he ssked: "Mrs. Emmans. where Is the diamond?" 'Ia Bruno's stomach!" she answered, at once, in a voice like that of a deaf per son who cannot hear himself speak. "And where is Bruno?" . "In the closet." "What closet V Mr. Emmons darted up to her upon this, and probably for the first time In many years, if not the first in his adult life, a look of wonder crept into his usually steady eyes. "Closet!" he repeated, as one stupefied, "Cioset!" She gave him no attention, did not even see him. Her eyes were on Dr. Furni vall's, and she answered: "The closet where I. keep my things the things I take." "Where is it?" "In the corner of this room, down low, in the wainscot, by the large table." Emmons and the sergeant stared in amaze. The corner was as bare as a wall could be. There was. not the slight est indication of any closet there. But Emmons, after a moment's thought, seemed satisfied and bestowed his atten tion again on the examination. , "It Is plain now," said Dr. Furnlvall to him, still holding Mrs. Emmons' eyes with his own, "how the monkey was made to disappear so suddenly, and unless you wish to hear more we will find the closet at once " "Let her tell the whole story," he in terrupted grimly. Dr. Furnlvall therefore went on: "Mrs. Emmons, how did it happen that the monkey should seize the diamond?" "Why. you see, I suppose it was this way: There is a kind of bon-bon that he is very fond of, and I always hold it up for him to leap for. It Is astonishing how far he can Jump and how swiftly, when he sees one of them in my fingers, or in deed anywhere. They are round, and sparkling like rock candy, and I suppose he thousht the diamond was one of them. So he snatched it and swallowed it. But it hurt him and he has been sick over it." "You had no idea of his doing such a thing until your husband told you it waJ done?" The Lost Rivers of the West Mysterious Streams That Play Hide and Seek. 0; N THE American continent there are no natural phenomena of more mys terious and fascinating interest than- the "lost rivers" of the Far West. These hide-and-seek streams as a rule head in mountainous areas and rush downward into bow-like valleys, where they Incon tinently vanish. Some of them reappear miles from the vanishing point, while others are lost forever and no man knows what becomes of their waters. The floors of th valleys Into which they flow generally are comparatively level and are built up of loose sands and gravels washed down from the rocky and forest-clad slopes which absorb the water and through which it percolates slowly beneath the surface. When the slow-moving underground current en counters an obstruction, a it often does, in the shape of a natural dike or the rocky rira of the lower end of the valley the water Is forced to the surface and the stream is born again. Sinks and Rises Often. - Thus the Santa Ana River In Califor nia sinks in the wash above Redlands, rtees to the surface above Bunker Hill "dike," sinks below It, rises from River side to Bedrock Canyon below El Rlncon. sinks In the wash above Santa Ana, and finally partly rises again In the large peat land springs above Talbert. The San Gabriel and the Ijos Angeles Rivers exhibit the same characteristic, but dis appear and reappear less often in their much shorter coarse to the sea. At some points th'ese sunken rivers flow for long distances under a wide stratum of Im pervious material where the water Is under considerable pressure. When wells are driven through this stratum an ar tesian flow results. The discovery of this fact added many thousands of acres to the cultivated area of California, most of which is in oranges, lemons, grapes, and other high-priced products. New Mexico Truant Stream. . This wonderful lava bed is nature's regulator. It swallows up the floods that come down the steep slopes. It absorbs the rains and jsnows and then releases them slowly through a filter miles and miles in length Into the Deschutes. In fact, there are no floods at all. Day af ter day and year after year Its flow Is uniform and its waters sparkling and clear. For this reason, probably, it is the finest trout stream in America. New Mexico also has a truant stream the Rio Mimbres. It drains many miles of mountain country in the southern part of the territory, and for a time is a stream of importance. Then, as if tired of existence, it flows out upon the plains near Deming and is lost forever, swal lowed up in the loose sand and gravel. The Pecos, too. Is a truant at time, and seeks seclusion beneath the surface, com ing up miles below In artesian Bprlngs of great volume and flow. Utterly Desolate Now. Ages ago, when the earth was young, the great Snake River Plain in Idaho, now a scene of utter desolation, was a semi-tropical garden. Countless streams crossed it and lengthwise through It flowed the mighty Snake. In the forest primeval and over the verdure clad plains roamed the mastodon, the mammoth, the camel, a queer kind of horse, and many other species of prehistoric animals. We know all this to be true by reason of the discovery of the remains of these extinct anlmaLs in the recent excavations made at Menldoka Rapids. A great, catastrophe overwhelmed this valley. On seven different occasions the lofty Tetons, which frame its eastern boundary, and which were then active "No, indeed, of course not!" Emmons' face softened the merest shade at this. He had evidently believed that In some way the theft had been pre meditated. "And when you found that he hai. wallowed the diamond you resolved to hide him?" "Yes. I did not propose to have my pet- cut open, or even given an emetic" "Was that the onv reason?'' "No, I wanted the diamond. Dia monds . are so pretty! I always tak them wherever I see them. If I can do so unobserved. I have a, lot of them in the closet." "And you made up the story of the strange woman in order to send suspi cion astray?" "Yes." "I think," said Dr. Furnlvall to Mr. Emmons, "that that is all we want to know, isn't it? it was the description of the alleged thief's appearance that put me immediately on the track. Such a description could emanate only from a mind disordered in some way, and, enn sldeiing all the circumstances. I at ones suspected kleptomania." But Mr. Emmons was already pound ing the wainscot In search of the closet. When finally It was laid open it was found to be a small cavity behind th sheathing used to round the corners of the circular room, the door of which was perfectly hidden, and fitted in tight ly without lock or spring. The floor wai littered with many valuables, stolen by the kleptomaniac, among them a srood handful of diamonds of various hapea and degrees of beauty. Stretched in the midst of the glitter ing .array the poor monkey lay dead, suf focated. The diamond was recovered, and Ser geant Nulty received the reward from Dr. Furnlvall, to whom alone Emmons would pay it. (Copyright, 1907, by W. O. Chapman-) volcanoes, erupted and poured forth a sea of lava, which swept downward and westward, covering the beautiful valley with a blanket of fiery liquid more than SCO feet thick. In the cataclysm ail the teeming life was annihilated. The rivers were burned up and their channels ob literated. Most Wonderful Canyon. The Snake River cut its way through the lava sheet, carving for ltsfilf one of the most wonderful canyons in the West: other streams from the South persisted and finally Joined the parent stream. On the north the rivers encountered the wall of lava, but did not cut through it. Tt is a striking hydrographic feature of the valley that for hunderds of miles not a river crosses it from the north. Among the streams which flow south ward from the range of snow-capped mountains on the northern edge of the valley two are especially interesting, the Big and Little Lost Rivers. In that long ago before the mountains belched forth fire these ' rivers formed an important tributary of the Snake, but the channel was obliterated by successive layers of lava which flowed over it. Today the floods of these rivers flow fbr a short distance on the surface of the plain and then disappear In fissures, crev ices, or in the softer and looser forma tions. Both are truly lost rivers, for they never appear again as streams. It Is more than 100 miles from where they lose themselves In the lav-a to the canyon of Snake River. Yet it is believed that a part of the waters of these rivers, passing through subterranean channels hundreds of feet below the surface, fi nally reach their former confluent. Shep herds and herdsmen who graze their flocks in Winter on this broad plain have long insisted that at several places where there were yawning chasms In the lava the rushing waters could be heard dis tinctly. Further evidence of the soundness of this theory Is found in the huge sprinas which break out along the northern walls of Snake Canyon. One group of these near the head of Hagerman Valley Is the most remarka ble in the world. They are known as Thousand springs. It is as difficult to describe them as it is to find words with whloh to portray Niagara. Conceive, If you can, more than half a mile of precipitous canyon, with black and frowning face nearly ?00 feet high. Then imagine 1000 geysers gushing forth under tremendous pressure, the water, white with foam, describing a perfect parabola and then falling sheer JOO feet, to be dashed into spray on the rocks below. The roar of all these cataracts is deafening. In the spray which rises the bright sun paints Innumerable rain bows of Indescribable coloring and beau ty. More than 900.000 gallons of water pours out of fountains every minute in the year. You can travel for ten miles down the canyon and never be out of sightr of a dozen waterfalls. More than half the normal flow of the river at thto point is supplied by these springs, which have their source proba bly hundreds of miles to the north, and which are drawn from some underground reservoir beneath the treeless plain. Wasps Taste In Files. London Telegraph. Wasps prey on flies a fact which is well-known in Italy. On any Sum mer or early Autumn day in the Tus can country parts, when the luncheon table is blackened by flies, one may see a wasp sail in at the open window, eelect fly, roll it over, curl It up and carry it out into the sunshine and soon return for another.