NUMBER 310.
'he Omaha Illustrated
Entered Second Class at Omalia Postofflce Published Weekly by The Pee Publishing Co. Subscription, J2.50 Per Year.
B
MAY 21, 1903.
-r-r-V I I AnUCMTIIDC II
- ' ju. i rf n .v yj e u h q
I B IWU fi 3
Hie Amateur Cradwnvmi
A Costume Piece
By E. W. HORN UNO.
Author of "The Shadow of the hope," "The Rogue's March."
"A Bride from the Bush," "Stiugarcc Stories" "Dead Men Tell No
Tales,"' etc.
(Copyright 1S39 by Charles Scrlbncr's Sons.) '
THIRD STORY
... OUT NEXT
WEEK
I
iiiiii
iThe Amateur Cracksman
i4 1 '- yy
Second Raffles Story
I.
'fm mi
UNDON was jubt then talking of one whose
uauio la already a nuuie and noUUng
more. Reuben Uoscuthal hud made Lin
million on die diamond fields oi South
Africa, and had come home to enjoy them
according to bis lights; how be went to
work will scarcely be forgotten by any
reader of the half-penny evening payers,
which reveled In eudlct anecdotes of his
original indigence and present prodigality,
varied with interesting particulars of the
extraordinary establishment which the mil
lionaire set up in St. John's Wood. Here
he kept a retinue of Kaffirs, who were
literally his slaves; aud hence he would
sally, with enormous diamonds in his shirt
and on his finger, in the convoy of a prize
fighter of hejiious repute, who was not,
however, by any means the worst element
In the Rosenthal menage. So said com
mon gossip, but tho fact was sufficiently
established by the Interference of the po
lice on at least one occasion, followed by
certain magisterial proceedings which were
reported with Justifiable gusto and huge
headlines in the newspapers aforesaid.
And this wall all one knew of Reuben
that up to the time when the Old Bo
hemian club, having fallen on evil days, found it worth its while
to organize a great-dinner in honor of so wealthy an exponent of
the club's principles. I was not at the banquet myself, but a mem
ber took Raffles, who told me all about It that very night
"Most extraordinary show I ever went to In my life," said he.
"As for the man himself well, I was prepared for something gro
tesque, but the fellow fairly took my breath away. To begin with,
he's the most astounding brute to look at, well over six feet, with
i chest like a barrel, and a great hook nose, and the reddest hair
and whiskers you ever saw. Drank like a fire engine, but only got
drunk enough to make a speech that I wouldn't have missed for 10
pounds. I'm only sorry you weren't there, too, Bunny, old chap."
I began to be sorry myself, for Raffles wag anything but an ex
citable person, and never had I seen him so excited before. Had he
been following Rosenthal's example? His coming to my rooms at
midnight merely to tell me about his dinner was in Itself enough to
excuse a suspicion which was certainly at variance with my knowl
edge of A. J. Raffles.
"What did he say?" I inquired, mechanically, divining some sub
tler explanation of this visit and wondering what on earth it could be.
"Bay?" cried Raffles. "What did he not say? He boasted of his rise,
ami ' r::tm ?M b)m I i W58
Iff s- W'fell
" 'f
.
HE ACTUALLY WAITED US TO LET HIM WRITE HIS NAME IN BULLETS ON THE OPPOSITE WALL.
laughing, for his spirit was Irresistible, and the plan was growing
upon me despite my qualms.
"Trust me for that," was his reply; 'Til see jou through. After
all, I expect to find that the difficulties are nearly all on the surface.
These fellows both drink like the devil, and that should simplify mat
ters considerably. But we shall see, and we must take our time.
There wiU probably turn out to be a dozen different ways in which
the thing might be done, and we shall have to choose between them.
It will mean watching the bouse for at least a week, in any case; it
may mean lots of other things that will take much longer; but give
mo a xcwV nnrl T will tpll vnu mnrfl Thntft in ur If TVin'rft FAnllv
be bragged of his riches and he blackguarded society for taking him ony
up for his money and dropping him out of sheer pique and jealousy ..0f course I am," I replied,' Indignantly. "But why should I give
because he had so much. He mentioned names, too. with the most . ,.. .vu. tu v. v .....v..
t uu u. rrtk. i it ii v Biiuuiuii l vtn vt n ii i liim uuubh luuriiitrr i
charming freedom, and swore he was as good a man as the old coun
try had to show pace the Old Bohemians. To prove It he pointed to a
great diamond in the middle of his ehlrt front with a little finger loaded
with another Just like it Which of our bloated princes could show a
pair like that? As a matter of fact, they seemed quite wonderful
stones, with a curious purple gleam to then) that must mean a pot of
money. But all Rosenthal swore he wouldn't take B0.OOO pounds for
the two, and wanted to know where the other man waa who went
about with 25,000 in his shirt front and another 25,000 on his little
finger. He didn't exist If he did, he wouldn't have the pluck to wear
them. But he had hs'd tell us why. And before you could say Jack
Robinson be bad whipped out a whacking great revolver!1
"Not at the table?"
"At the tablel In the middle of his speechl Bnt It was nothing
to what ho wanted to do. He actually wanted us to let him write hia
name in bullets on the opposite wall to show u why be wasn't afraid
to go about in all his damonds! That brute Purvis, the prize Center.
"Because two eyes are as good as four and take up less room.
Never hunt In couples unless you're obliged. But don't you look of
fended. Bunny; there'll be, plenty for you to do when the time comes,
that I promise you. Yon shall have your share of the fun, never fear,
and a purple diamond aU to yourself If we're lucky."
On the whole, however, this conversation left me less than luke
warm, and I still remember the depression which come upon me when
Raffles was gone. I saw the folly of the enterprise to which I bad
committed myself the sheer, gratuitous, unnecessary folly of it And
the paradoxes In which Raffles reveled, and the frivolous casuistry
which was nevertheless half sincere, and which his mere personality
rendered wholly plausible at the moment of utterance, appealed very
little to me when recalled in cold blood. I admired the spirit of pure
mischief In which he seemed prepared to risk his liberty and his life,
but I did not find it an Infectious spirit on calm reflection. Yet the
thought of withdrawal was not to be entertained for a. moment On
the contrary, I was impatient of the delay ordained by Raffles, and.
"Well," said I, "If you had told me so before I shouldn't have
come. You told me nothing."
He looked hard at me from under the broken brim of a battered
billycock.
"You're right" he said at length. 'Tve been too close. It's be
come second nature with me when I've anything on. But here's an
end of It Bunny, so far as you're concerned. I'm going home now,
and I want you to follow me; but for heaven's sake keep your dis
tance, and don't speak to me again until I speak to yon. There give
me a start And he was off as?ain, a decrepit vagabond, with his
hands In his pockets, his elbows squared and frayed coat-tails swing
ing raggedly from side to side.
I followed him to the Finchley Road. There he took an Atlas
omnibus, and I eat down rows behind him on the top, but not far
enough to escape the pest of his vile tobacco. That be would carry
his character sketch to such a pitch he would only smoke one brand
of clgarettesl It was the last least touch of tho insatiable artist and
it charmed away what mortification there still remained in me. Once
more I felt the fascination of a comrade who was forever dazzling
one with a fresh and unsuspected facet of his character.
As we neared Piccadilly I wondered what he would do. Surely
he was not going into the Albany like that? No, he took another
omnibus to Sloane street I sitting behind him as before. At Sloane
street wo changed again, and were presently in the long, lean artery
of the King's Road. I was now all agog td know onr destination, nor
was I kept many minutes in doubt Raffles got down. I followed.
He crossed the road and disappeared up a dark turning. I pressed
after him, and was in time to see his coat-tails as he plunged Into a
who is bis iaid bully, had to bully his master before he could persuade perhaps, no small part of my secret disaffection came of his galling
him out of it There was quite a panic for the moment: one fellow
was aaylng his prayers under the table, and the waiters bolted to a
man."
"What a grotesque scene!"
"Grotesque enough, but I rather wish they had let him go the
whole bog and blaze away. He was as keen as knives to show us
how h could take care of his purple diamonds; and, do you know,
Bunny, I was as keen as knives to see."
And Raffles leaned toward me with a sly, slow smile that made
the hidden meaning of his visit only too plain to me at last
"So you think of having a try forthe diamonds?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"It is horribly obvious, I admit But yes, I have set my heart
upon them! To be quite frank, I have had them on my conscience for
Mime time; one couldn't hear so much of the man, and his prize fighter,
aud his diamonds, without feeling it a kind of duty to have a go for
them; but when it comes to brandishing a revolver and practically
challenging the world, the thing becomes Inevitable. It is simply
determination to do without me until the last moment
It made It no better that this was characteristic of the man and
of his attitude toward me. For a month we had been, I suppose, the
thickest thieves in all London, and yet our Intimacy was curiously
incomplete. With all his charming frankness, there was In Raffles a
rein of capricious reserve which was perceptible enough to be very ir
ritating. He had the Instinctive secretiveuess of the inveterate crimi
nal. He would make mysteries of matters of common concern; for
example, I never knew how or where he disposed of the Bond street
Jewels, on the proceeds of which we were both still leading the out
ward Uvea of hundreds of other young fellows about town. He was
consistently mysterious about that and other details, of which it
seemed to me that I had already earned the right to know every
thing. I could not but remember how be had led me into my first
felony by means of a trick, while yet uncertain whether he could trust
me or not That I could no longer afford to resent but I did resent
his want of confidence in me now. I said nothing about it but it
rankled every day, and never more than In the week that succeeded
thrust upon one. I was fated to hear tha challenge. Bunny, and L the Rosenthal dinner. When I met Raffles at the club he would tell
for one, must take it np. I was only sorry I couldn't get on my hind
legs and say so then and there."
"Well," I said, "I don't bee the necessity, as things are with us)
but of course, I'm your man."
My tone may have been half-hearted. I did my best to make It
otherwise. But It was barely a month 6lnce our Bond street exploit
and we certainly could have afforded to behave ourselves for some time
to come. We had been getting along so nicely; by bis advice I had
scribbled a thing or two; inspired by Raffles, I had even done an article
on our own jewel robbery, and for the moment was quite satisfied
with this sort of adventure. I thought we ought to know when we
were weU off, and could see no point In our running fresh risks before
we were obliged. On the other hand, I was anxious not to show the
least disposition to break the pledge that I had given a month ago.
But It was not en my manifest disinclination that Raffles fastened.
"Necessity, my dear Bunny? Does the writer only write when
the wolf is at the door? Does the painter paint for bread alone? Must
you and I be driven to crime like Tom of Bow and Dick of Whlte
rhapel? You pain me, my dear chap; you needn't laugh, because you
do. Art for art's sake Is a vile catchword, but I confess it appeals to
me- In this case my motives are absolutely pure, for I doubt if we
ahall ever be able to dispose of such peculiar stones. But If I don't
bave a try for them after tonight I shall never be able to hold my
bead up again."
His .rye twinkled, but It glittered, too.
"We shall have our work cut out," was all I said.
"And do you suppose I should be keen on it if we hadn't?" cried
-llafflea. "My dear fellow, I would rob St Paul's cathedral if I could,
but I could no more scoop a till when the shop walker wasn't looking
than I could bag the apples out of an old woman's basket Even that
little business last month was a sordid affair, but it was necessary,
and I think Its strategy redeemed it to some extent Now, there's
aoiuc credit nd more sport In going where they boast they're on
jruard against you. The Bank of England, for example, U the Ideal
crib; but that would need half a dozen of us with years to give to the
Job: and meanwhile Reuben Rosenthal Is high enough game for you
aud me. We know he's armed. We know how Billy Purvis can fight
It'll be no soft thing, I grant you. But what of that, niy good Bunny
what of that? A man's remh must exceed his grasp, dear boy, or
what the dickeys Is a heaven for?"
"I would rather we didn't exceed ours Just yet," I answered.
me nothing; when I went to bis rooms he was out or pretended to be.
One day he told me he waa getting on well, but slowly; It was a
more ticklish game than he had thought; but when I began to ask
questions he would say no more. Then and there, in my annoyance,
I took my own decision. Since he would tell me nothing of the re
sult of his vigils, I determined to keep one on my own account and
that very evening found my way to the millionaire's front gates.
The house he was occupying Is, I "believe, quite the largest In the
St John's Wood district It stands in the angle formed by two broad
thoroughfares, neither of which, as it happens. Is a 'bus route, and I
doubt if many quieter spots exist within the four-mile radius. Quiet
also was the great square bouse, In Its garden of grass plots and
6hrubs; the lights were low, the millionaire and his friends obviously
spending their evening elsewhere. The garden walls were only a few
feet high. In one there was a side door opening Into a glass passage;
In the other two five-barred, grained and varnished gates, tne at either
end of the little semi-circular drive, and both wide open. So still
was the place that I had a great mind to walk bodily in and learn
something of the premises; In fact I was on the point 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 a di
lapidated tramp.
"You fool!" said he. "You utter idotT
"Raffles r
"That's It," he whispered, savagely; "tell all the neighborhood
give me away at the top of your voice!"
With that he turned his back upon ma and shambled down the
road, shrugging his shoulders and muttering to himself, as though I
had refused him alms. A few moments I stood astonished. Indig
nant at a loss; then I followed him. Ills feet trailed, his knees gave,
his back was bowed, his head kept nodding; It was the gait of a man
80 years of age. Presently he waited for me midway between two
lampposts. As I came up he was lighting rank tobacco In a cutty
pipe with an evil-smelling match, and the flames showed me the sus
picion of a smile.
"You must forgive my heat Bunny, but It really was very foolish
of you. Here I um trying every dodge begging at the door by night
hiding In the shrubs the next doing every mortal thing but stand and
Mare at the house as you went and did. It's a costume piece, aud in
you rush in your ordinary clothes. I tell you they're on the lookout
for us night and day. It's the toughest nut I ever tackled!"
I TOOK THE STAIRS THREE AT A TIME.
still darker flagged alley to the right He was holding himself up and
stepping out like a young man once more; also, in some subtle way,
he already looked less disreputable. But I alone was there to see
blm; the alley was absolutely deserted and desperately dark. At the
further end be opened a door with a latchkey, and It was darker yet
within.
Instinctively I drew back tnd beard bim chuckle. We could no
longer see each other.
"All right. Bunny! There's no hanky-panky this time. These are
studios, my friend, and I'm one of the lawful tenants."
Inded, In another minute we were In a lofty room -with skylight
easels, dressing cupboard, platform and every other adjunct save the
slcns of actual labor. The first thing I saw, as Raffles lit the gas,
was Its reflection in his silk hat on the pogs beside the rest of his
normal gnruients.
"Looking for the works of art?" continued Raffle, lighting a
cigarette and beginning to divest himself of his rncs- "I'm afraid
you won't find any, but there's the canvas I'm always going to
make a start upon. I tell them I'm looking htgh and low for my
ideal model. I have the stove lit on principle twice a week, and
look in and leave a newspaper and a smell of Sulllvans how good
they are after 'shag! Meanwhile, f pay my rent and am a good
tenant in every way; and it's a very useful little pied-a-terre
there's no saying how useful It might be In a pinch. As it la, the)
billycock comes In and the topped goes out and nobody 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 disguises," said I, watching
him as he cleansed tho grime from his face and bands.
"No. Bunny, I've treated you very shabbily all around. There
was really no reason why I shouldn't bave shown you this place a
month ago, and yet there was no point In my doing so, and cir
cumstances are just conceivable In which it would have suited us
both for you to be In genuine ignorance of my whereabouts. I
have something to sleep on, as you perceive, In case of need, and,
of course, my name Is not Raffles In the King's Road. So you will
see that one might might bolt further and fare worse."
"Meanwhile you use the place as a dressing room?"
"It's my private pavilion," said Raffles. "Disguises? In some
cases they're half the battle, and it's always pleasant to feel that
if the worst comes to the worst, you needn't necessarily be con
viced under your own name. Then they're indispensable in dealing
with fences. I drive all my bargains in the tongue and raiment of
Shoreditch. If I didn't there'd be the very devil to pay in black
mail. Now, this cupboard is full of all sorts of toggery. I tell the '
woman who cleans the room that It's for my models when I find
'em. By the way, I only hope I've got something that'll fit you, for
you want a rig for tomorrow night"
"Tomorrow nlghtl" I exclaimed, "Why, what do you mean"
to do?"
"The trick," said Raffes. "I Intended writing to you as soon
as I got back to my rooms, to ask you to look mo up tomorrow
afternoon; then I was going to unfold my plan of campaign and take
you straight into action then and there. There's nothing like put
ting the nervous players in first; it's the sitting with their pads on
that upsets tbelr apple cart; that was another reason for my being so
confoundedly close. You must try to forgive me. I couldn't help re
membering bow well you played up last trip, without any time to
weaken on it beforehand. All I want is for you to be as cool and
smart tomorrow Dlght as you were then; though, by Jove, there's no
comparison between the two cases!" :
"I thought yon would find it so.
"You were right I have. Mind you, I don't say this will be the
tougher Job all round; we shall probably get in without any difficulty
at all; it's tho getting out that may flummox us. That's the worst of
an irregular household!" cried Raffles, with a quiet burst of virtuous
Indignation. "I assure you, Bunny, I spent the whole of Monday
night in the shrubbery of the garden next door, looking over the wall,
and, if you'll believe me, somebody was about all night long! I don't
mean the Kaffirs. I don't believe they ever get to bed at all poor
devils! No, I mean Rosenthal himself and that pastry-faced Purvis.
They were up and drinking from midnight when they came In, to
broad daylight when I cleared out Even then I left them sober,
enough to slang each other. By tho way, they very nearly came to
blows In the garden within a few yards of me, and I heard something,
that might come in useful and make Rosenthal shoot crooked at a'
critical moment You know what an I. D. B. is?"
"Illicit Diamond Buyer?"
"Exactly. Well, it seems that Rosenthal was one. ne must have"
let it out to Purvis In his cups. Anyhow, I heard Purvis taunting him:
with it and threatening him with the breakwater In Capetown; and i'
begin to think our friends are friend and foe. But about tomorrow
night; there's nothing subtle In my plan. It's simply to get In whllo
these fellows are out on the loose, aud to lie low till they come
back, and longer. If possible, we must doctor the whisky. That'
would simplify the whole thing, though it's not a very sporting
game to play; still, we must remember Rosenthal's revolver; we
don't want him to sign his name on us. With all those Kaffirs
about however, It's ten to one on the whisky and and a hundred to
one against us If we go looking for It A brush with the heathen
would spoil everything, if it did no more. Betides, there are the
ladies'
"The deuce there are!"
"Ladies with an 1, and the very voices for raising Cain. I fear,
I tear the clamor! It would be fatal to us. Au contralro, if we
can manage to stow ourselves sway unbeknowns, half the battle
will be won. If Rosenthal turns In drunk. It's a purple diamond
apiece. If be sits up sober, It may be a bullet Instead. We will
hope not Bunny; and all the firing wouldn't be on one side; but if s
on the knees of the gods.'
"And so we left It when we shook hands In Piccadilly not by
any means as much later as I could have wished. Raffles would
not ask me to bis room that night He said he mads It a rule to
have a long night before playing cricket and other games. Hia
final word to me was framed on the same principle.
"Mind, only one drink tonight Bunny. Two at the outside as
you value your life and mine!"
I remember my abject obedience, and the endless, sleepless
night It gave me, and the roofs of the bouses opposite standing out
at last against the blue gray London dawn. I wondered whether
I should ever see another, and was very hard on myself for that
little expedition which I had made on my own willful account
It waa between 8 and 0 o'clock in the evening when we took op
our position in the garden adjoining that of Reuben Rosenthal; the
house itself was shut up, thanks to the outrageous libertine next
door, who, by driving away the neighbors, had gone far toward
delivering himself into our hands. Practically secure from surprise
on that side, we could watch our house under cover of a wall Just
high enough to see over, while a fair margin of shrubs In either
garden afforded us additional protection. Thus entrenched, we
had stood for an hour, watching a pair of lighted bow windows,
with vague shadows flitting continually across the blinds, and lis
tening to the drawing of corks, the clink of glasses and a gradual
crescendo of coarse voices within. Our luck seemed to have de
serted us; the owner of the purple diamonds was dining at borne
and dining at undue length. I thought it was a dinner party.
Raffles differed; in the end we proved right Wheels grated In ths
drive, a carriage and pair stood at the steps, there was a stamped
from the dining room, and the loud voices died away, to burst
forth presently from the porch. ;
Let w make our position perfectly clear. We were over the "
wall, at the side of the house, but a few feet from the dining room
windows. On our right one angle of the building xut the back lawn
In two diagonally; on our left, another angle Just permitted us to see
the Jutting steps and the waiting carriage. We saw Rosenthal come :
out saw the glimmer of his diamonds before anything. Then came
the pugilist, then a lady with a head of hair like a bath sponge; then
another, and the party was complete.
Raffles ducked and pulled me down In great excitement
"The ladles sre going with them," he whispered. "This Is great!"
That's better still."
"The Gardenia!" the millionaire had bawled. "
"And thafs best of all," aid Raffles, standing upright as hoofs"
and wheels crushed through the gates and rattled off at fine speed.
"Now what?" I whispered, trembling with excitement
They'll be cleaning away. Yes, here come their shadows. The ;