13
"THE KING OF DIAMONDS"
A Thrilling'Story of a Modem Monte Cristo
The Gold Witch
Being the Adventures of a Golden-Haired Hcircsn
No. 12 Blessings, Like Sorrows, Never Come Singly
By Stella Flor es
BY LOUIS TRACY.
TITTC BEE: OMAHA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1914.
. . ...
You Can iRegin This
Great Story To-day
By Reading This' "
, Eirst - -
Philip Anson ft, a boy',of'15,. of .flno edu
cation and good breeding, but un orphan
and miserably poor ' '
The story opens with tho death of his
mother?
JUch relatives have deserted the family
In their hour . of need,, and when his
mother" death 'cotnes I'hlllp Is In despair.
Ho loojes over his mother's letters and
finds that he Is, related to Sir, Phllp Nor
land. A few days later a terrific thuridor
fltorm bf ews oyer London. At .the height,
of the storm r flash of lightning "scares
a tearai'attachedt to ji coach 'standing' In
front of a West End. mansion. Philip,,
who has become.- a newsboy,- rescues' a'
girl from tho carriage just before It
turns oyer. A mn with the Rlrl trips
over Phjllp In n)s excitements Ho cuffs
the boj(and calls a policeman. The girl
pleads for Philip and ho Is allowed to go,
after learning that the man .was Lord
IVanstopp. Phlllp'thcri" determines to.
commit?. suicide. Ho Borrows a piece of
rope frqm O'Brien, a ship chandler, and
Roes to-his miserable dwelling in John
con's Mows. .
Just as ho Is about'tb hang himself a
meteor flashes by the window and crashes
Into thj" flagstones In tho yard. The boy
takes this as a sign from heaven not to
kill hlrpself. He then goes- to tho yard
to lookat the meteor. Philip, pioks, up
Foverar.fcurlous looking bits of the meteor
and shows them to O'Brien. The latter
ndvlseiAhlm to take them to' a Jeweler's.
He visits Mr. Wilson, who tells him that
the pieces are meteoric diamonds worth
nn Immense fortune Wilson' sends him
to a diamond dealer named Isaacsteln.
He goei'lnto restaurant- and. afjUs the pro
prietor -to trust him for a meal, , The .man
lefuses, but Mr. Judd, a grocer,- offers
to pay -the bill. Philip cats hie fill and
promises to reward tho grocer later. He
tells Isaacsteln Mr? Wilson sent Jilm. At
the police station he" gives his name as
Philip jMorland' "Isaadstoln admits' the
diamonds could not have 'been stolen, as
no such", collection of stones ever cxlstd.
He Is tficn taken Into court.
Copyright, 10M, by Edward J". CJbde,
A poUce Inspector, whom Philip fiad
not seen before, mado a short state-,
ment, and was followed by tho constable
who effected the arrest. Ills story, was
brief and correct, and then the Inspector
stated that Mr. Wilson of Grant' & Sons,
XiUdgat$ Circus, would be called .at the
next hearing, as he the Inspector -would
ask fora remand to enable Inquiries', to
be made. Meanwhile Mr.. Isaacsteln of
Hatton Garden, had made .It .convenient
to attend that day, and wipUJd be pleased
to givoevldenc 1 his worship desired
to hear-pim.
"Certainly," said Mr. Abingdon, tho
magistrate. "This seems -to be a' some
what peculiar case, and 'I will, be glad If
Mr. Isaacsteln can throw anyrllghfupoa
it." i
But tyr. Isaatcatcln could not do any
puch thing. He wound up a succinct
nccountof Philip's visit and utterances
by declaring that therowas no collection'
of mefeorlo diamonds', known' to rilm
from which such a remarkable - set of
stones Spuld bo stolen.
This nphatlc statement Impressed the
magistrate.
"Let fae see them," he said.
The parcel was handed to him and, he
examined Its contents with obvious In
terest. '
"Are you qnlte sure of their ' meteoric
Origin, Mr. Isaacsteln?" he asked.
"Ycs.
"Can 'you form any estimate of their
probable, valuer' ,
"Abou 50,000."
The reply startled the magistrate and
It sent;; thrill through the court.
"Really! So much!" Mr. Abingdon was
almost 'scared. -
"If, after cutting, they .turn out . as
well as -I expect, that Is a moderate es
timate -of their worth."
"I take It, from what ypu eay, thatV
meteoric' diamonds are rare?"" '
Isaacsteln closed his' throat' with a pre
monitory cough and hunched his shoul
ders. A slight wobble -was steadied by
his stumpy hands on the raH'of'tho wit
ness bx. He wan really the greatest
IK'Ing authority on the subject, and he
knew lt '
"It ls'fa common delusion among dla
mond miners that diamonds fall from
the skies' In meteoric showers," he said.
"There 'fn some sort of foundation for
this mistaken "View, as the stones are
found In volcanic pipes or columns of
dlamantlferous material, and the crude
idea Is that gigantic meteors fell and
plowed these deep holes, distributing' dia
monds In all directions as they passed
But the so-called pipes are really ' the
vents of Cextlnct volcanoes, Ignorant peo
ple do riot realize that the chemical com
position f the earth doe's not differ
sreatlv -from that of the bodies which
surround' It In space, so that the'sarscr
process ,of manufacture under high tem
perature. . and at great pressure which
create , diamond- In a meteor has equal
powers .Here. In aJ word, what has hap
pened in'tne outer universe nas aiso
pened at Klmberley. Iron- acts -as the
solven during the- period of, creation, so
to speak Then, in the lapse of ages, it
oxidises 'by the action of air or water.
and thediamonds remain."
The magistrate nodded.
"There", are particles of a mineral that
look like- Iron among these stones?" he
iid. .v .- r .
pSow Read Qn '
The question gavo Isaacsteln time to
draw a fresh supply of breath. Suroof
His audience1 now, ho proceeded more
.slowly. 4 : ; ...
"Thot Is a certain proof -of a .mcteorlo
source: A striking confirmation' of v the
factjs,.simnlledby a dlsjclct iaJVrizona..
Here, on a plain five miles In diameter,
nro scattered thousands of masses of
metalllo Iron, varying In weight from
half a ton to atfractlon,of .onolQunqe. An'
enormous rrietepric shower1 fell tnere',at
some period, and near tho center Is a
;crateillRoJ hole" which suggests the Im
pact of como very large body which bur
led Itself In the earth. All mineralogists
know tho place as the Canyon Dtabolu,
or Devil's Gulch, and specimens of Its
.oro are In evory .collection. Ordinary
tools wero spoiled,' and even emery wheels
worn by some hard Ingredient In the Iron,
and analysis has revealed tho presence
therein of three distinct forms of diamond
the ordinary stone, like these before
you; both transparent-and black graphite
and amorphous . carbon, that is, carbon
without crystallization.'
1 "I gather that the dlamantlferous ma
terial was. present In the, form of tiny
particles and. not In stones' at all ap
proaching Kthcse In size?" said Mr. Ab
ingdon. "Exactly. I have never either seen or
heard of specimens like those. In ISM a
meteor fell In .Russia; and.. contained1 1'
per centofi diamond tp a slightly meta
morphosed state. In lttff-thc Ava meteor
ite fell In Hungary, and It held crystalline
graphite In the bright as well as the
dark - form.- But, again,, tho distribution
was wcil diffused, and of slight commer
cial value. Sir William Crookes, or any
eminent chemist, will bear me out in the
assumption that the diamonds now be
fore your eyes oro absolutely . matchless
by the product of any, recorded, meteoric
source."
Isaacsteln, having1 delivered his little
lecture, looked and felt important The
magistrate bent forward with a pleased
smile.
"I am very much obliged to you for
,tho highly interesting Information' you
have given," he- said. '"One more ques
tion the" inevitable corollary, of your evi
dence Is that, the boy now in tho dock
has either found a motepr or a meteoric
deposit Can you say It it Is a matter of
recent occurrence?"
"Judging by the nppcaranco of'theac
icompanylng scraps of Iron ore, I should
say that they havo been quite recently
In a slate of flux" from heat The silic
ates seem- to be almost eliminated."
The magistrate was Unquestionably
puzzled. Queer, incidents happen in po
lice courts dally, and . the. rnost- unex
pected scientific and tech'jjldfal points are
ciuciuatca in tne errort xo secure an ac
curate comprehension of matters In 'dis
pute. But never durjng hia, long tenancy
01 tno court, naa ne neon called on to
deal with a case of this nature. He
smiled In his perplexity.
"Wo all remember the copy-book
maxim, 'Let Justice be done though the
heavens' fall,'"- he said, "but here It Is
clearly shown that the Ideal Is not
easily reached."
Of course, every one laughed: and the
reporters piled pen and. pencil with re
newed activity. Here was- a sonsatlon
with a vengeance worth all he display
It demanded- in the evening papers.
Headlines would whoop through, a quar
ter of a column, and Philip's meteor
again run through space. ,
'Science
By GARRETT IVSEItVISS.
Now that man has learned to fly, he
takes a new Interest ,'ln other Hying
animals, tho number of which turns out
to be surprisingly large when one's at
tention Is called to
them. Tho birds are
simply the most ad
vanced type of filers,
for the power of
flight Is by no
means confined to
tho avian family.
The bird is believed
to be a descendant
of reptiles or dra
gons, wfilch acquired
wings ana leamra
to fly ages ago.
Some of the family
of reptiles still re-
tain the ability to
fly, and since they
represent the ancestral line of the birds
it is .natural to begin with them in look
ing over the' list of flying animals now in
existence.
The chlamydosaurus of Australia, a
kind of lizard, has a htlge Elizabethan
ruff about the neck which serves as a ,
parachute, enabling the animal to jump j
out Into the air from a height and de-
scend safely to. tho ground. When not
In use the ruff Is folded along the fore
shoulders.. According to some authors,,
the huge rjiff on" the chlamydosaurus Is
also Intended, or at least used, as a
means of frightening off enemies', and Its
aspect seems well calculated for that
purpose.
The flying has a kind of wings,
Kovercd with horny jcalen, which It
folds along Its body when It Is not
launching Itself In a flying Jump.
The' flying frog has its wings attached
to Its feet in the form of broad, thin
membranes stretched between the toes.
Of course, none of these leptlles Is a
true filer, and yet they do manage with
the aid of their singular locomotive or
gans to pass considerable distances
through the air. Their achievements In
aerial navigation are about comparable
with those, of the earliest experimenters
with aeroplanes.
The struggle for existence which leads
animals of -many species to prey upon
one another probably led to the develop
ment pf a certain power of flight In sev-ei-al'.
Species, of flslj. . FurnUhed" with
mings, small fish are able to leap from
the
water when pursued, and launch
themselves for long distances through the
ftlr-. B)'!ry ca(oysgfT has seen ilylnir
Even In. the whirl of happiness that followed her meeting Tom agnln, the ten
der heart of the little Gold Witch, could not forget her old guardian, Tom's father, old
and alone in his groat houso with sad memories.
And when at last Tom brought her, a bride, to a tiny new apartment as dainty
as a Jewel box, oho crept into his arms and confossod. sho -had written to his
father. - "I told him we could just keep on being disinherited, dear, but that you
long for your-father, and I just must havo my dearest 'Guardy' again. You
aronJt angry, aro you?' -
"Angry at you?" chldod Tom. "But It's no use. Ho won't como."
The boy himself was apparently tho
most disinterested person present While
listening to Isaacsteln, ha again ex
perienced' the odd sensation of aloftness,
of lofty domination, amidst a common
place and Insignificant environment
The Jow was clever, of course, but his
cleverness was that of the 'text book, a
dry record of- fact , which needed genius
to Illuminate, the printed page. And theso
lawyers, reporters, policemen, with tho
vacuous background of loungers, tho
friends and bottle holders of' thieves and
drunkards the magistrate, oven, remote
In his dignity and sense of power what
Some Wonders of Nature
(Above) Flying Squirrels; (below) Flying Fish.
fish skimming above the waves, and oc
casionally landing on the deck of a ship.
Arboreal, or tree-dwelling, animals
might ' naturally be expected to develop
the power of flight, as a considerable
number have done. Many of these arc
popularly known aa flying "squirrels.
Their organs of flight consist of ex
tensions of the furry skin at the tides of
the body, which can be stretched out
like a pair of mantles by extending the
front and hind legs. The animal then
I launches Itself from n tree and etldM
Hkj an aerpplane to the branches of a
neighboring tree.
were they to him? of no grenter Import
than tho paving stones of the streets to
tho pulsating life of London as It passed,
Tho magistrate glanced at Isaacsteln
and stroked his chin. The Jew gazod
Intently nt the packet of diamonds and
rubbed his sinuous nose. There was a
deep silence In court, broken only by the
occasional shuffle of fret among the
audience at the back a shufflo which
stopped instantly when tho steely glance,
of a policeman darted In that direction.
(To Be Continued Mondayi)1"
Until the experiments of the Wright
brothers led to the development of me
chanical flight by means of aeroplanes
some of the stories of flights performed
by flying squirrels were looked upon with
much doubt by many persons, but now
that wo know by our own experience
what can be done by means of a plane
moving edgewise, through tho air, it Is
easier to understand what the flying
squirrels have accomplished. Hut ft wjll
always be a subject for wonder how na
ture could have developed such powers,
and the organs needed for their use, sim
ply upon the principles of evolution.
Play Censors
By ItEV. O. P. AK13D, D. D., IiLiD.
"
Wo have all heard of the folly of con
sistency, It Is time to speak of the con
slstencyof folly.
Bpurgeon, the English preacher, de
clared that a man who was consistent
with himself whs consistent with a big
fodl, following, utla safe distance. Kmer-
sori. Who sad that " a foolish consistency
Is.the hobgoblin-of-llttlo minds, adored by
llttlo j8tatciunen.,.nnd philosophers and
divines."
Wanted An epigram to describe tho
consistent folly of persons who hold that
It Is right to do and -wrong to know.
Applications to bo addressed to the cen
sors of public amuscmct)ts, official or un
official, In any city of the United Htates.
In ovory city In the civilized world tho
stage offers to the public Impropriety,
Immodesty, obscenity. Sir Herbert Deer-
bohm Tree many years ago, beforo ho,
received a knighthood from the British
crown in recognition of his lofty Ber-1
vices to the drama, said to the present
writer:
"In tho world of the theater today there'
aro actori and managers determined to
keep tho theater as clean as your churcl,
and thuro are actors and managers set
upon rcxluclng tho theater to the level of
a London muslo hall. If the clergy do
not recognize this and HU-pport the men
who nro trying to add to the best tradi
tion of tho drama their own lnteiity and
aspiration, the clergy will lose tho right
to rrltlclfo tl)o theater for more than one
geno ration."
Clergymen, in constantly increasing
numbers, go to tho theater In thotr own
cities, from time to tlmo calt attention to
good plays, and glory In the work being
dono by the stage.
Hut the cleavage which Bccrbohm Tree
saw coining In England Is visibly present,
with us In Amorlca. There wero never
so many good plays ns there are now,
and never so many good men and women
on the stage. Ono is bound to pay this
tribute of admiration and gratitude lest
some careiesa rcaacr snouiu suppose mac
tho ontlrely proper growl of tho Puritan
of tho seventeenth century is Improperly
repeated In tho twentletlu It la not so,
This Is u plain statement of fact, In ad
dition to all the good work there Is vile
work being done, corrupting, shameful
work. And wo tolerate It without com
punctlon.
Tho difficulty In writing about It Is that
no person who respects himself cares to
slvo Instances In support of his conten
tlon.
Instances abound. It Is going on every
day In overy city, While men and women,
splendid in their intellectual vigor, are
adding fresh distinction to the American
stage, Inumerablo shady characters make
themselves merely purveyors of dirt.
These things wo never censor.
And now for the consistency of It The
things that ure seized upon by censors,
whether In New York or San Francisco,
In Chicago or Seattle, are plays In ono'
form or another calculated to expose tho
evil, to' show It for what It Is, evil and
nothing but evil, a scandal and a menace
They do not maku vlro attractive. They
throw no glamour over lives lived - In
As ho spoke thcro was a knock, and In tho doorway stood Tom's fathor. With
a delighted llttlo cry tho Gold Witch flow to him, and Tom silently gripped his
hand.. Tho old man looked down tondorly at tho lovoly flushed face, with Its cob
webby go)d hair wreathed in orango blousoms and lace.
"My childron," he said In a volco that would tremblo In Bplto of him. "Years,
ngo tho Gold Witch's father and I learned that wealth was only a trust. So wo dfl
cldod to keep it from you till you learned its value. But I do .not' know anyono
who could use it more wisely than my two children, who hays prove'dthey can . make
their own way so well"- .- - j
(END OF THIS SERIES.)
shame. It they did they would stand
condemned. They reveal facta aa they
are. They show them aa repulsive facts.
They fire In the breasts 'of decent men
nnd women a hatred of the -evil, calling
for prlvato und public action that looks
toward n diminution of Its .Volume .and
power, that looks toward a day when
law no longor perrnlts one human being
on earth to make mpney out of the de
gradation and sin of another,
Naturally, therefore, all the men and
women everywhere who profit out of
these things are aa one In objecting to'
the plays and performances which ex
pose them. This we can understand.
What Is also clear Is that men "id'
women who haVe no profit In such evil,
but, -while themselves entirely honest
persons, have persuaded themselves that
the toleration of vice Is necessary In our
cities or, more probably, HaVe accepted '
without thought this doctrine from a post.
generation, and can sit through the
average vaudeville suggestlveness with
out discomfort join In opposition to the
policy of letting In tho light They are
consistent with themselves.
The Manicure Lady
By WILLIAM F. ICIRK.
"Me and sister Mayme .was to a mov
ing picture show the other night," said
tho Manlture Lady, "n,nd you ought to
have saw us put the crusher on a flirt
ation that might have turned out sad
(or two llttlo girls, I haven't got done
thanking my stars yet that we happened
to be oo tho spot and on the job."
"Was some one trying to flirt with you
and MaymoT' asked the Head Barber.
"Not those nice, sleek looking young
boys,'.' said the Manicure Lady. "We was
a llttlo too old and too wise for them to
waste their precious time on. You know
the kind of boys I mean, Qeurge; about 21
years old, ' dressed to kill, dark haired
and full of flash talk, dolled up with a
little Jewelry and with plenty of 'spend
ing money. I spotted both of them In a
minute, and so did Mayme. They was
talking to two girls that couldn't have
been over IS years old, and we could see
that the girls were Innocent by the way
they kept starting for home. But finally
one of the smooth young gents coaxed
them to go to a Ice cream parlor and
this Is where I enter, I looks over the
two lads In my most regal manner, and
I says, kind of stsely, 'Sou want to be
good little boys and let these 16-year-old
girls go home now, don't your Right
away, of course, they had me and Mayme
figured, for lady spotters,, so th?y mum
bles 'something and beats It around the
corner. Then me and Mayme walked
home with the girls, and we told them
enough motherly stuff before wo got to
their house la scare them out of any more
flirtations like that,'
"It might have been all right,' said the
Head Barber.
"It couldn't possibly have turned out
all right." declared the Manicure Lady.
"You would have known better yourself.
The Consistency
of Folly.
It Is perfectly consistent for an honest
police nfriclal to tolerato a segregated
district and censor a play which attacks
It. No dishonor Is Involved. Such an
official only stands for the consistency
of folly.
Borne few men, and fewer 'Women,
Whoso' lives ha'e beejj devoted to this
warfare against wrong'. Unite with' the
others in an attempt to censor a per
formanco which would bring to the light
the evils they are fighting. Somo pf
these censors have grown old. Some, like
Anthony Comstock, have grown ex
tremely tiresome.
And some- havo. not-yet caUght the In
spiration .of tho new age which Is upon
us. They need time -There Is plenty 'of
lime. And In .time the, men and women
who, wero brought up to believe that
"you. cannot, touch - pitch, without being
defiled" wtl learn that innocence Is the
gift of Clod which enables, IJs children
to touch, pitch without .being' .defiled,
when It Is encountered In the path of
duty. The consistency of goodness will
triumph over the consistency of folly..
George, If you had seen the two slick
little foreign rats the girls was talking tp.
Don't try to ,tell me nbthlng about li
lt was the same old pitiful story that has
been acted too often In 7?ew York, espev
clally around them movie' the&torcsi If I
was a police commissioner I would hayp
a good plain clothes' man' In front of
every one of those 6-cent show houses,
and he would' mafco moTd than' drle" atreSt
an afternoon, too,'
"You, don'titako as. much stock as that
In the white' slave talk, do' your" aiked
the Head Barber.
"It would take me a ''long time to. tell
you how much stock I .take in' It.'1 re
plied the Manicure Lady, 1ty goodness,
George, It Is going on all over tho city,
light under the noses of good people and
the cops 'therriselvcs, If I- was a mother
s!nd had young girls,-1 would have them
so schooled up about talking" to strangera
that they would turn their backs on even
a old man with gray whisker If he spoke
to them. And' I would como-pretty near
knowing where my young, daughters 'Went
afternoons and evenings, too.''
"It Is pretty hard for a 4ot.o rootbora
that live In a big city to keep track: of
their daughters," said, the Head Barber.
"I know it Is, George," agreed the Maht
cure Lady, "and that Is the pity of It all.
We didn't use. to hear of thlsrawful stuff
before New York City let down the bars
to everybody from everywhere, and got
so big It couldn't keep out of its own watf.
I was out in the-country the other day
and heard a farmer's wife say -she "wor
ried about her daughters. Jt made rne
laugh to myself. She didn't know how
lucky she was to have them with her In
the country. 1 wish I had always lived
out there.-somewhere, so .1 would never
have learned and seen so much to make
me sad. There comes a cuatpmer. George:,
I guess I've gabbed enough, anyway."