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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1913)
Ti(konicIes J- MR. TAUBERY'S DIAMOND (Continued.) ' "Tet, It Is presumable that the guest who came with an Imitation diamond In his pocket Is the man who started a discussion which resulted In Mr. Taubery producing his latest treas ure." "So It Is, by Jove!" cried the col onel; "I never thought of it. Clever work, Inspector, eh?" "Exactly," said . Peace, blandly. "And now, as regards the place In which the robbery was committed." "I locked the door," answered the colonel, smacking his trousers' pocket "Please let me have the key. Thank you. , And now as to the windows. Were they closed and fastened T" "I saw to it myself." "After the search In the library, did any of the guests return to the dining room?'.' "I am no fool, Inspector. I left old Julius there to see to that. No one went back. When I had finished aearchlng I joined Julius, and we locked up together. The butler had called in the policeman on the beat and I left him sitting In the passage watching the door and drinking beer." "I must go to Portland place. What Is the number?" "I will drive yott there with all the pleasure In the world, Inspector," said the colonel, cheerfully. "Come along." I left them at the foot of the stairs, obtaining a whispered promise from the detective that he would give me a call that night If it was not too late when he returned. I spent a disconsolate evening at the club. Never did I play a more de graded hand at bridge, though I should certainly have taken exception to the remarks of my partner under more ordinary circumstances. There la a point at which fair criticism ends and deliberate insult begins. By ten o'clock 1 was back again In my rooms, where I loitered, amongst my books and pictures, In restless ex pectation. It was chiming midnight when there came a discreet tap at my onter door, and Addlngton Peace walked in. He sat himself down In the easy chair 1 offered, and permitted me to mix him a whisky and soda. "Tell me, have you found the dia mond?" "No." "Nor the thief?" "I know him to be one of five men that is all." "Five? And how do you make that out?" "It is very simple. The real dia mond was examined by Professor En dicott; it was an Imitation that reached Sir Andrew Carlhon. There fore It Is reasonable that one of the five who sat between them changed the one for the other." "So you strike out the professor and Sir Andrew?" "If -either of them had been Impli cated they would hardly have raised the quarrel that resulted In the dis covery of the theft" "And this Suspected five who are they?" "Our friend Colonel Gun ton, Mr. Thomas Craddpck, a clerk In the war office'; tb Hon. George Carstalrs, Lor Wlntone's brother; Mr. Abel Field ol Orey and Field, car manufacturers; and the Rev. Aubrey Power, a minor canon r.of Westminster Abbey. I have made some light inquiries and find nothing agalnrt ; them. , Carstalrs, Craddock and Power are men of mod erate Income, the other two are rich. "Tet this gives us one' Important conclusion. -The actual thief Is an .am ateur In crime. So far as anyone knows this la his first offense.-. But It was not a sudden temptation to which he yielded. " On the contrary, he was carrying out- his share in a plot that had been long and carefully prepared. He substituted an Imitation diamond for the original as It passed through bis hands an easy matter; but who thought out the scheme, who had this admirable Imitation made, who knew that Taubery was leaving the country and that the diamond was to be sent Immediately to strong room of a bank, where th substitution that had taken place might not be discovered for month, perhaps years? "Who, In short, bad the clever brain, the far-sighted judgment, the familiarity with jewels and those who itl In them, all of which would be re quired In the originator of suoo a fraud? , Not OuhIoe, nor Craddock, smr Carstalrs, nor Field, nor the Rev. tubrey Power.' Thero Is soma one who has Influence over one of these men some one pnM" the strings be- hind the curtain... I shall consider tt an honor to make that person's arrest Mr. Phillips." ' Inspector Addlngton Peace beamed upon me as he concluded his deduc tion concerning the theft of Julius jauuery g aiamona, with an , expres sion of hopeful enthusiasm, and lit a cigarette at my reading lamp. "This unknown criminal genius has got the diamond, anyway," I said. I am not so sure of that. Consider the position of the actual thief on the discovery that the stope was false. He must have been in a state of blind ter. ror. If we may suppose that Colonel Gunton Is Innocent, the bellowing of that worthy gentleman must have frightened him the more. To be searched, discovered, and actually dls graced a pleasant prospect, surely! We may take It that he was heartily sorry for the part he had played; that he wished the diamond a thousand miles away. To get rid of It previous to the ordeal before the colonel and Professor Endlcott in the library that would be his object. ' "Tet here I am met by the simple difficulty that I cannot .find the dia mond. I have made the closest Inves tigation without result. As Colonel Gunton told us, Mr. Taubery remained In the dining room to see that none of the guests returned after they had been searched. The door was subse quently locked and a policeman eta' uonea in the passage outside; the windows were fastened. Therefore the thief could not come back to re cover what he had temporarily hidden. All of which might seem to prove that, though Colonel Guntbn affirms that he went through the guests with an ex pert nana, one of them managed to keep the diamond about him and carry It away. Tet such an achievement suggests rather the professional than we amateur criminal. And, If for that reason alone, I believe that the stone Is still In the house. We ought to be able to decide that point within a week." "I can't see why. Peace," I said. not Then, pray don't trouble about It And really. Mr. PhllllDs. as I have a long day's work before me. It is time i was off to bed. Do you know it is one o'clock?" I knew how useless It was to ques tion the little man when he thought ne naa told enough. So I bade him good night with the best grace that disappointment would permit It had been kind of him to trouble about me, alter ail. Three days went by, and I had not naa tne cnance of asking Peace for news. For two nights, as I discovered by inquiry, he slept out, only appear ing for an hour about noon to change ais linen; for he was most careful of hi. - " MitMuce ana as cleanly as a cat Indeed, I had a secret belief that his nails were regularly manicured In Bond street. When I did see him it was by accident, and, to be frank, nothing he had done gave me greater surprise. I was walking through Kensington gardens about eleven o'clock on a visit to a friend whose studio lay to the north of the park. It was charm ing weather. The fresh leaves on the smoke-black boughs, the flower beds rich. In variegated coloring, the deep throated coo of the pigeons, the chat ter of Innumerable sparrows, all told that winter had passed and spring waa calling a welcome to summer... I had Just turned from a long shrub-walled walk Into an ppen space when I came upon the amazing spectacle of Ad dlngton Peace flirting with a very pretty nursemaid. Whatever the little inspector had been, whatever he was, there . was nothing of the Don Juan In his com position. I had already noticed that he .took pains to avoid 'the opposite sex, with that uneasy consciousness of their presence ' which marks the bachelor with principles. Tet there he eat, 'sharing the same bench and talking earnestly Into her ear, while before them a little boy pedalled In dustriously up and down upon a trl-cycle-horse. a long-maned, long-tailed toy set on three wheels and propelled by Indifferent pedals. It was Idyllic, domestic, but distinctly surprising. As I passed the bench, Peace stared at me without a glimmer of recogni tion In his keeu gray eyes. I had just finished my breakfast next morning when In walked the In spector. I laughed: Indeed I could hot help It; and he answered me with a quick glance, half annoyance, half re proach. "Something is going to happen to day In the matter or the diamond." ha said. "But I warn you, Mr. Philips, that If you Intend to mk fun of me you shan't know a word about it " "Ton . entirely misjudge me,"l said. sucking my nose into my coffee cup to hide a grin. "Very welL There Is a sale of fur niture today at the house of Mr. Ju lius Taubery, No. 204 Portland place, the 'property of a gontleman going abroad for the benefit of hla health,' as the catalogue has It I should ad vise you to be there a little before four o'clock this afternoon." "I am very much obliged to you. Peace," I said, making a note of the number on my shirt cuff. - He nodded, with a faint shadow of a smile at the corners of his mouth, shook a finger of warning, and trotted out of the room. I was punctual at my appointment and shouldered my way through the crowd of chattering dealers Into the big dining room of No. 204.' A private auction to me always seems a melan choly business. True, I knew that In this case the owner was a rich man, that his furniture and carpets and fit tings had been bought only a year or two before, and were not the loved col lection of years. But the tumbled dis order, the mud of many feet upon the floor, the noise of the bidders answer ing the raucous voice of the auction eer, were all an Insult to the peace, the privacy and the hospitable mem ories of a stately home.- It was with relief that I saw Colonel Gunton's eyeglass Shining near the window, and elbowed my way towards him. He had a little boy with him, whom he car ried perched on bis shoulder, well out of the way of the crowd. '.'Hello,' Phillips," he shouted. In a tone that successfully competed with the auctioneer's. "Come to see the last of old Taubery's household gods, eh? Confound those dealers, what a noise they make bidding for that ta ble. 'Pon my soul, when I think how many gqod dinners I've had with my toes underneath it, I feel quite senti mental, I do, Phillips, strike me." To emphasize his sensations he glared ferociously at a weak Individ ual who was pressed against him by a swirl In the crowd, and asked him what In thunder be thought be was doing. The great table was bought, the last of the .heavy furniture; and there only remained a few details that were auctioned, some separately, some In oddly assorted lots. It was during their sale that my talk with the col onel was Interrupted by the .little boy upon his shoulder. "Oh, father," he cried, , "there's George's bicycle horse! Won't you buy me George's bicycle horse?" A long-tailed, long-maned toy 'was raised by one of the auctioneer's men, who grinned under a running tire of chaff. I had an idea that I had seen that gallant charger, before, though where I could not remember. "Who 1b George?" I asked the col onel. "It's Taubery's grandson. His daughter's a widow, you know; she and the boy live with the old people. HI, there! ten shillings." A gray-haired man In an overcoat who stood near by nodded his head at the auctioneer, "Eleven shillings going at eleven shillings." "Fifteen." bawled the colonel. "One pound," said the gray-haired man. ' . I had no idea what the cost of such toy 8 might be; but the price, second hand,' seemed high. Several of the dealers gathered about the chair on which the auctioneer was standing WHAT SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE Odd Superstitions That Are Prevalent Among the Inhabitants of Euro pean Countries. In Spain the wedding Is spoiled If one of the guests appears entirely In black or If the bride looks Into a mir ror after orange blossoms and veil are fastened In her headdress. When a person's hair ends split It Is taken by the superstitious for a sign that she is either a witch or has been bewitched. As blond hair splits more readily than dark hair, all witches, sprites and sorceresses have blond or red hair, according to popular belief. Likewise, according to the standard of art On the marriage eve there is often much good natured rivalry between the groom, and the bride in the Slav countries as to who shall blow out the candle, for the person who does will be "first to die." It is Impossible to trace the origin of this superstition, yet It prevails in aristocratic society as well as In the peasant's hut, even as like this, that "to Insure the life and health of the children" .the wom an must occupy the right side of the bed. In addition, she must not smoke before her forty-fifth. yr. There la a superstition In this coun try and many others against burning a broom. The bud of birch broom Is used In southern Germany as a pre ventive againit erysipelas. These buds, a piece of yellow wax and soma looked back at us over their shoul ders. "Confound those dealers!" cried the colonel. "If an outside buyer wants anything they try to squeeze him out They're all In league. - It ought to be stopped. It's a monstrous shame. It's Iniquitous. Twenty-live shillings to you, sir." "Thirty," .said the gray-halre'd man. '"Two pounds." As the bids Increased the temper of the colonel grew worse and worse. Those who were well' out of his reach began to chuckle, and. finally to laugh outright At four pounds ten he hesi tated. With a supreme effort he made It five. "Guineas," said the gray-haired man. I am sorry to say that the colonel swore. In one stupendous oath be de nounced all who dealt in second-hand goods of any description whatsover. Then, with the little boy sobbing on his shoulder, he surged through the crowd like a battleship In a head soa, and disappeared amid a burst of disre spectful laughter. It was before the auctioneer had sufficiently recovered from his surprise that I felt a gentle touch on m arm. It was Addlngton Peace. 'There Is a four-wheeled cab watt ing about thirty yards up the Street," he whispered, "Go and get Into It I will Join you presently." (CHRONICLES TO BE CONTINUED.) Honesty In London. Montenegro has a law ordaining that any found valuable shall be placed where the loser can find It The fact suggests an anecdote told of Garibaldi's grandfather In Dickens' life of the famous clown. On one of his visits to Leadenhall market with nearly $2,000 in gold and-silver upon him, "he found that his shoe had be come unbuckled, and taking from his pocket the bag, he placed It upon a neighboring poBt, and then proceeded to adjust his buckle." Having after ward to pay for a purchase, he missed his bag of gold, and hurried back to the post where he had buckled his shoe. Although more than three quarters of an hour had elapsed . . . there It remained safe and un touched "on the top of a post in the open street!" That was In eighteenth century London. One Way With Late Husbands. At Stelnach, Canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, a young married woman whose husband was unable to tear himself away from his favorite cafe in the evenings and was always very late, for dinner, took the dinner and "planted" it before her husband and friends while, they were playing cards In the cafe. ( "Continue your game as long as you like, but don't return home and disturb me, for I am going to bed," she said, and walked out of the cafe. The young husband had to Dasa the night in the streets, as his wife re- tusea to anow mm to enter tne house Baby a Real Midget. The montn-oia cnua of a gypsy, which was the subject of an inquest at Wandsworth, England, not long since, was described by a doctor as the smallest baby he had ever known. It only weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces. instead of the normal 7V4 pounds, and Its length was only 1 foot 5 Inches. as compared with the average 2 feet 3 Inches. other articles, are Inclosed In a pink silk bag, secured with red silk and worn on the back of the neck. The person must change his shirt every Friday. One That He Forgot. Two black-faced mlnBtrels , were giving an entertainment on the sands of a certain seaside holiday resort recently. While one of them was telling funny stories about the hum ors of boarding house landladies, the other went among the crowd making a collection. He at length went up to a stern looking woman, who promptly snatched the tambourine from bis hand and poured the con tents Into her. lap. As she returned the empty tambourine to the tatoav lshed mlnlstrel she- exclaimed: - "Tell your friend who knows so much about landladies that rtn the one he forgot to pay the last timet he waa here I" Weekly Telegraph Proper Yellow Feeling. One of John Quincy Adam's clients, whose case was to be tried on a cer tain morning, fonnd that he could not get his counsel to leave his flshlna boat except long enough to write a note to the Judge, which read: "Dear Judge: For the sake of old Izaab Walton, please continue my case un til Friday. The smelt are biting, ana I can't leave," And the Judge, bar ing read the note, announced to the court: "Mr. Adams is detained on Important business." ,' GOOD CELERY RECIPES FOR THOSE WHO PREFER SUCCU LENT VEGETABLE COOKED. iream Soup an Appetizing and Nour ishing Dish Boiled With Flour and Butter Excellent Pre pared In Italian Style. Cream of . Celery Soup Melt one fourth of a cupful of butter and add one-fourth cupful of flour. When thoroughly blended add two cupfuls of cold milk and cook until thick. Cook a large head of celery, cut fine. in boiling water until tender, and rub through a sieve. Measure the pulp and add enough of the water In which It was cooked to make two cupfuls. Add to the thickened milk, season with salt and pepper, and, if too thick, dilute with boiling milk to the proper consistency. Boiled Celery Tie cleaned and trimmed stalks of celery In bunches with string. Cover with boiling salt ed water, add a chopped onion, a lit tle mace, and two or three pepper corns. Cook Blowly until done, re move the strings and arrange on a serving dish. Strain the liquid and reserve enough to make a sauce. Thicken with flour cooked in but ter, take from the fire and add the yolk of an egg beaten with the Juice of a lemon. Pour over the celery and serve. Less lemon Juice may be used, if desired. Fried Celery Cut cleaned celery stalks into four-Inch lengths and .boll until tender In salted water to cov er. Drain, cool and dry. Beat to gether three eggs and two cupfuls of milk, and add enough bread crumbs to make a thick, smooth batter. Dip each piece of celery twice into the bat ter, and fry brown, in deep fat Serve with the following tomato sauce. Brown a tablespoonful of flour In but ter, add a cupful of stewed tomatoes, salt, pepper, grated onion, a teaBpoon ful of beef extract, and one-half cup of water. Cook until smooth and thick, strain over the fried celery and serve. Escalloped Celery Chop celery very flne or cut Into half Inch lengths and cook until tender in boiling salt ed water to ' cover. Drain and re heat in cream sauce. Put into a but tered baking dish In layers, sprinkling each layer with grated cheese, or crumbs, or both crumbs and grated cheese. Have crumbs and cheese on top, dot with butter and brown In the oven. Celery a 1'ltallenne Trim the tops and roots from four heads of celery, and cut the stalks Into short lengths. Parboil, drain and reheat with a cup ful of white stock, a tablespoonful each of butter and chopped ham, sea soned with salt and pepper. When tender strain the sauce and arrange the celery on pieces of toast Add a tablespoonful of grated cheese to the seuce and th beaten yolk of an egg. Pour the sauce over the celery and bake until brown. Scalloped Potatoes. Peel, wash and slice small potatoes, place a layer In a baking dish, season with salt and pepper, then a dash of flour and small bits of butter. Con tinue the layers until the dish Is full. Nearly fill the dish with milk and bake In the oven until potatoes are tender and browned on top. Grated cheese, bits of ham or slices of bard cooked eggs may be put between the layers of potatoes. Woman's World. Original Lemon Pie. Having previously baked a rich crust I put one and two-thirds cups of toilk in double boiler, reserving enough milk to dissolve two heaping tablespoons of corn starch, yolks of two eggs, saving the whites for frost ing, one large cup sugar, grated rind of one lemon and Jule of one and one half. Beat the whites Btlff, adding one or two' tablespoons of sugar and return to oven to brown. Rich Pancakes. Sift together one pint of flour, one teaspoonful sugar, a saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful and a half of baking powder sifted with the flour. Beat one egg thoroughly and stir It Into a cup and a quarter of milk. Turn this on two cupfuls of cold boiled rice and beat with a fork until the rice is free from lumps. Add to the prepared flour and beat to a smooth batter. Have the griddle well heated and greased and cook the batter in large, thin cakes, browning nicely on both sides. Serve with maple syrup. Bannocks. Beat up one egg, add a pint of milk and stir in a heaped up teacup of oat meal and one-quarter teaspoon each of salt and baking soda. Have ready a hot griddle, rub it over with fat and drop the mixture on to this in spoonfuls. When covered with bub bles on the top, turn and cook on tha other side. Cranberry Cup. A combination of cranberry sauce and frappe Is delicious served with a turkey dinner. - 4 .' I