The Datchet Diamonds

ng to undergo an examination by the police, he was as taciturn as possible. Although he was by no means sorry that he had fired that s

. Lawrence and his friends had a very shrewd notion that they were in his possession was plain; that they were disposed to stick at nothing wh

wn, lock them in the safe he rented, and then, whatever might happen, nobody but himself would ever be able to have access to them again. He had the Gladstone bag brought up to his bedroom, removed from it the precious parcel, returned the bag itself to the manager's keeping,

journey's end without having had one

standing on the kerbstone a little to the left of the hotel entrance, a man who wore his billycock

he back. When Mr. Paxton's cab rattled into the central yard, and Mr. Paxton proceeded to step out from it on to the pavement, another hansom came dashing up behind his own, and from it there alighted the man who had turned his back on

recently he had endured enough of that kind of thing to last--if his own tastes were to be consulted--for the remainder of his life. He decided to put a stop there and then to, a

u follo

r seemed to be a little taken aback. Then, with an impudent air, taking what was left

u speaki

, a row in public just then would have been sheer madness. He adopted what w

following me from my hotel. Be so good as to call

began to

should like to know? Can't any one move about except yourself? Fol

Paxton addressed him in

nd now he is following me from the bookstall to the train. I have some valuable property on me, with which fact he is possibly acquainted. Since he is

the cigar bec

g to town by this train, and it seems that this gentleman's going too, and perhaps that's wh

expecting Mr. Paxton to grasp it. Mr. Paxton, however, moved a

od as to keep an e

he neither stopped to see nor cared to inquire. He saw no more of him; that was all h

re were illustrations of some of the principal jewels which had been stolen, together with anecdotes touching on their history--very curious some of them were! The Dukes of Datchet seemed to have gathered those beautiful ge

e details, could scarcely fail to recognise them if ever they came his way. It appeared that few even royal collections possessed so large a number of r

y than a miserable 3 per cent.?-- that was fifteen thousand pounds a year. Three hundred pounds a week. Mo

ty to regain possession of such a sum as that; it would have been strange if they had n

to speak of honesty in connection with a gentleman who had launched himself on such a venture--lay his hand upon his heart, and say that he was happier since he had discovered what were the contents of somebod

an adventurous turn of mind, evidently he could not have adopted a more certain means of gratifying his pecul

hly dressed men assisted him to rise. But, while undergoing their kindly ministrations, it occurred to him, in spite of his half-dazed condition, that they were evincing a livelier i

ing along without looking where he was going, when he stumbled against the gentleman, and was so unfortunate as to knock him over. He was profuse, and indeed almost lachrymose, in his apologi

ft them behind him in that impregnable fortress, where, if the statements of the directors could be believed, fire could n