THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 47, 20 March 1909, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER.

THE KING'S DIAMOND. HOW SEXTON BLAKE COKNEKEU THE CULLD«'A2\' OKLMLNALS. I. It was nine o'clocK. on Sunday morning, and isexiou biiise had jusc uuisheu. bieaKiasl, ««eu uu laudlauy luloriued nun that a laay, wno gave vue name oi \V elliugs, wished to see kirn. "l know you dou t see clieiits as a ruie uu aunday,' she saiu; "but We V°»* " la lady «eeuis in such trouble, 1 kadn t the heart to send her away!" -Trouble" was a word that never ap; pealed to Sexton Blake iu vain, and when it was a. woman who was :n

trouble "Show her up!" he said. Mrs. Wellings proved to bo a middleaged woman, obviously ot the lower nuiklle- class. She explained that she was a widow, and lived in Vork-street, which was only a siep away from tiic detective's rooms. "I'm «orry to trouble you at this early hour, aad oh u Sunday, too," eke said, in a tearful voice; "but I'm convinced , that semethiag dreadful has happened to Ralph, and I want you to advise me what to do." •■Kalph!" said Sexton Blake enquiringly. "My only son," she hastened to explain, "he's a professional photograpletrand was formerly employed by the Losdoa Photographic Company. Six months ago he went to Berlin, where hj» i had applied for, and obtained, a situation with a well-known firm of photographers, named Oppenheiiner and btrauus." ' .' -Aad what makes you fear that 'something dreadful' has happened l> tim!" a«Wed Seiton Blake. By way of rcpiv, Mrs. WeUings handed him » telegram, "despatched from Berlm at ten o'cloek on Friday morning.

It ran as follows: "Leaving for London this morning. Arrive Victoria 7.50 a.m. to-morrow. Do not trouble to meet me, aB shall be engaged on firm's business all mormng. Will come to you afternoon. Staying till Monday.-Kalph." "I received that telegram on Inda) afteraoon-that is to say, the day bc"re yesterday," said Mrs. Welling*. "As you see, Kalph told me not to trouble to meet him; but, nevertheless, I determined to do so. Accordingly, yesterday morning I started out lor Victoria, but, unfortunately, I had miscalculated the time it would take me to walk from my house to the station, and it was striking eight when I reached Hyde Park Corner. "As I was hurrying down Grosvenor Place," she continued, "I saw a motorcar coming up the road from the direction of the station. There were two men in the car, and as it passed me l suddenly perceived that one of the men was Kalph. ' , ~ -I waved my hand and called to him, but neither he nor the other man saw me, and a moment later the car had turned into Piccadilly and was out ol **Welli" asked Sexton Blake, as she

paused and began to cry. "I returned to my louse,' she sobbed, •'never doubting that Balph would turn up later in the day. But lie didn't, and he hasn't turned up yet. I ought to ■; have consulted you last night, but 1 kept on hoping against hope that he would come. „ '•I haven't slept a wink all night, slio concluded. 'What do you advise me to do? What is your opinion! Has my son been kidnapped, or murdered, or lias he met with some terrible accident? It is clear that he arrived at Victoria at ten minutes to eight yesterday morning, as he said he would in his telegram. He lias now been in London ior more than twenty-four houre. Why hasi t he come to my house? Where is he? If something las happened to prevent him coming to my house, why hasn't he sent me a message?" "You are quite sure it was your son whom you saw in the motor-car?" asked Sexton Blake. . ••As if 1 could possibly be mistaken! she said. "Were you expecting him to come to London?'' ' ">'ot until I received his telegram on I Friday afternoon. Indeed, in the last letter I had from him, on Thursday, he said he was going to spend this weekend with an English friend at Potsdam. Evidently, therefore, his coming to England must have been decided on at the last moment—probably on Friday morn-

mg. -So you do not know why lie came to LondonV" •■'l only know that he came to transact some business on behalf of Messrs. Oppenheimer and Strauss. He said so in Ms telegram, you lfnow." "You can supply me, of course, with a description of your son, and also of the car which you saw in Grosvcnor •I'lace!" Mrs. Welling* handed him a photograph, and descriltfd the car to the best of her ability, and also the 'other man'' she had seen with her son. '•I advise you to go home, and leave the matter in my hands," said Sexton Blake. "I will first go down to Victoria Station and make enquiries there; and as soon as I have anything to report, I'll communicate with you."

"Oh, yes, sir, I remember 'iin quite well!" said the twenty-seventh porter at Victoria Station to whom the detective showed the photograph of Ralph Wellings. "He arrived 'ere at 7.50 yesterday morula' by the boat-express from Queenborough. I opened the carriage door for an' asked 'iui If be 'ad any luggage. He said he 'ad three packages in the van; an' I got "era out for 'im. Two of the packages was cases of photographic apparatus, an' the other was a portmanty. '•'Four-wbeelert' sez I, when I'd put the things on a barrow. ' : 'Xo,' sez he. 'There's a uioty-eaf wait-in' outside, for me. Leastways,' he sez, 'there ougbter be, for they wired to me at Queenborougb as they was sendin' a, car to meet me.' "Sure enough," continued the porter, "there was a big green car in the station yard, with a red-'aired bloke in charge of it. '"Are you the man wot Sir Somebody 'as sent to meet me?' sez my young gentleman. •' 'Yes,' sez the red-'aired chap. 'That

is, if you are Mr. Wellings, from Berlin. " 'I am,' sez my young gentleman. "And with that." concluded the porter. "I 'dps the red-'aired chap to stow (lie luggage in the back of the car, an' 'iin an' Mr. Wellings drives away, an' that's all I knows about 'em." ••You didn't happen to notice the number of the car?" asked Sexton Blake. "I didn't," said the porter. "But the eons'table wot was on duty at the station gate would lie sure to make a note of it." It took the detective nearly an hour to discover the constable's name and to rnn him to earth. But it was time well spent, for the constable was able to furnish him with the number of the car: and a telephonic enquiry addressed to Scotland Yard elicited the information that the registered owners of the tar were the London Automobile Supply Corporation, of Long Acre. A hansom took Sexton Blake to this address in less than ten.jninuti's; but the place was closed, being Sunday, and another half-hour was spent in hunting up the manager. Then the manager had to go to Long Acre to consult the books of the firm—in consequence of which

it was nearly noon before the detective learned that the ear had been hired for a w«ek on the previous Friday by "J. Johnson, Mona House, Hamilton Terrace, Maida Vale, London, W." A (ruarter of an hour later the dctectnre'a hansom turned out of St. JohnV'Wood Road into Hamilton Terrace, and pulled up outsido the gardengate of Mona, House. The detective rang (he front-door bell. There was no reply. Three time* he rang, wirJi the samo result. Then he peered through one of the front windows, and found, to his surprise, Hint. although the window was garnished with Hind and curtains, the room was both UMcarpcted and unfurnished. A hurried glance through the other windows at the front of the house revealed the same state of affairs.

He passed through the wooden sate. and entered the yard at the hack of the house. Here thnre were neither Minds nor curtains to the window*. The house wai unfurnished and uninhabited. "A motor-car hired for a week.'' mused .Sexton Jilake. "An empty house. decked out in Vroiit with blind* and enrto giv» it the appearand- of being oeJßpied. This looks serious!'' He pondered for a moment: then, one of the panca of the kitehen window, .he. forced back the oaten, raised the sash, and clambered into the silent and apparently deserted house. \ m. : ' But the house was not deserted. Tu i. the- third room the detective explored -- he discovered a young man lying bound £■ «4 gaggei 0» &* 1 " , I ' uu«« r P ttc ' ] w

floor. He recognised him from the' photograph at a glance. "Ktuph Wellings, f believe';" he said, us he removed the gag from tho young fellow's mouth. "i'es." euiil Wellings, hoarsely. "Who arc colli" "ftexton lilaki'." "Thank Heaven!'' cried \Velling6 fervent, y. Then hi> added, wildly and incoherently: "IJoii'i waste a minute! You cau tell me afterwards how you tracked me to this house. Go to the Tower at once, or the CuUinan Diamond

will be stolen. I can't come with you, for my leg m broken. But never mind about me. (To to uic 'lower at once—at once, or you'll be'mo late!" Sexton Blake was not easily startled, but he was. unmistakably startled now. "Tell me all about it. quickly and briefly," he said. "Messrs. Oppenheimer and Strauss, of .Berlin, with whom 1 am employed," said Wellings, speaking rapidly and excitedly, "are bringing out a series of photographs ot the Crown Jewels of Europe. They have already published photographs of the regalia of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Kussia. About a fortnight ago they wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, and obtained permission to send over a man to photograph the British Crown Jewels, which, as you know, arc kept at the Tower of London. "They had originally intended to send over one of their assistants named Eckhardt; and it had been arranged that Eckhardt should leave Berlin last Friday morning and arrive at the Tower at h'alf-paet eight on Saturday morning, when, in the presence of the Keeper of the Kegalia, a sentry, two yeomanwarders, and are official from the Lord Chamberlain's department, the jewelI case was to be opened and the regalia photographed.

"At the last moment Eckliardit fell ill, and at half-past nine on Friday morning I was informed by llerr Strauss that I was to go to London in Eckhard't's place. 1 wired to my mother, left Berlin at 11.40, and arrived at Queenborough at six o'clock yesterday morn-

ing. "At Queenborough I received a telegram, purporting to - come from the Keeper of tho Kegalia, saying that he was sending his motor-car to meet me at Victoria and take mc to the Tower. The car was there when 1 arrived, and the chauffeur explained' that betorc lie took mc to the Tower he had to call for the Lord Cluimbcrlain's representative, whose name was Tredgold, and who lived in Hamilton Terrace. "Wluuvthe car pulled up outside this house the chauffeur asked me to ring I the bell. 1 did so, and the man who I opened the door requested ine to step inside for a moment. No sooner had £ done so than he attacked me with a loaded cane, and in the struggle my leg was broken, and I was stunned.

"When I came round, 1 was lying bound and gagged in this room. The chauffeur and the man who had opened the door were standing over me. With brutal frankness- the latter explained that his name was Gunning, that the chauffeur's name was Hoffmann, and that they were botli members of an fctteinational gang of thieves, for whose arrest there were warrants out in all the capitals of Europe. •'Gunning iurther explained thai he and Hoffmann and another member of the gang, named Sehreiner, had ascertained that Oppenheimer and Strauss were sending Eckhardt over to London to photograph the jewels in the Tower. And thev had decided, he said, to kidnap Eekiiardt, and to send Gunning to the Tower ill his place, with the intention of stealing the famous Cullman Diamond, which, as they knew, had recently been placed amongst the other Crown Jewels. "'For this purpose. 7 said Gunning coolly. 'Hoffmann and I, who were then in Berlin, came over to London, rented this house, and hired a motor-ear. Sehreiner remained in Berlin to carry out the rest of the plot; and 071 Friday morning he wired to me that Eckhardt had been taken ill, and you were coming in his place. "'After you had left Berlin,'continued Gunning, 'Sehreiner wired to the Keeper of the Regalia, in your name, informing him that you had missed your train, and would not reach London until late on Saturday night. He added that you would call on him at one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, to apologise and make fresh arrangements. " 'lt was I,' eaid Gunning, 'who sent that telegram which you received at Queenborough, saying that he was sending his motor-car to meet you at Victoria and take you to the Tower. You fell into the trap. And now that I have told you all this, you can doubtless guess "what Hoffmann and I are going to do.' "1 couldn't guess/' continued Sellings, ''but Gunning quickly enlightened ine. .

" 'Hoffmann is going to drive me to the Tower at one o'clock to-morrow afternoon,' he said, 'and I am going to pretend to be Ralph Wellings. Being Sunday, the Tower will be closed to ordinary visitors, and the Jewel Room will be locked up. But there is a private way from the reception apartments to the Jewel Room, and, after I have apologised to him for having missed my train, I am going to persuade him to let me have n look at the Crown Jewels. Then I'm- going to stun him, collar the Cullinan Diamond, return to the car, and make a graceful exit!'" . Sexton Blake whipped put his watch. It was two minutes to one.

"So Gunning and Hoffmann are now on their way to the Tower?" he said. I "Yes. They left in the car about five minutes before yon arrived. That's why I implored you to lose no time, but to go to the Tower at once. Unless you—" But Sexton Blake was out of hearing. He was scrambling through the kitchen window, and a moment later he was climbing into his hansome. "The Tower!" he said to the cabby. "And drive like the dickens!"

About the same time as Sexton Blake sprang into his hansom, a big green motor-car drew up outside the gate of London's Tower. There were two men in the car. One was Gunning, and tiV other was Hoffmann. "I wish to see the Keeper of the Regalia," said Gunning, alighting from the car. and addressing the constable on guard at the gate. "My name is Wellings. He is expecting me." The constable beckoned to a vcomanwarder.

"This gentleman has an appointment with the Keeper." "This way, sir!" said the warder. A sentry'inside the main gate, a sergeant and a warder outside the Middle Tower, another warder and another so:i-

trv at the Reward (into, a sentry outside St! Thomas's Tower—those wore the only persons Gunning saw, till a housemaid took charge of him at (lie door of the Keeper's quarters and ushered him into that official's presence. There is no need to record the conversation which ensued. Suffice to say that, after Gunning had apologised for not having kept his appointment on Saturday morning, lie broached the subject of fresh arrangements. "In the meantime." he said, "it would be n very great help to me if I could see the room in which the Crown Jewels arc kept. <if course. T know the room is locked ill Sundays: but you cnulil doubtless take me there, if you would. Will vou?" With eharacK-ristie good nature, tno Keeper assented, lie unlocked a door, led the wav along a narrow, private corridor, unlocked another door, and u-hored Gunning into the Jewel Room. "There they are!" he said, as lie switched on the electric light. Gunning gazed at the gln-s and ir"n case in which the Crown Jewels ~| Greal

Britain flashed and scintillated. The Cullman Diamond, the gift of the people of tin- Transvaal to the King of Kngland.

seemed especially to attract his alien'•When t come to photograph the jewels," 1,0 said, pointing to a windowon the opposite side, of the room, "will it be .possible to block out the light of, that windowt" The Keeper turned to look at. the window. At the same instant a. loaded cane Hashed out of (luniiing's pocket, and descended with brutal force on the back of his head. With a stilled groan, the Keeper of the 1 Itegalia stumbled forward and. pitched unconscious to the ground. Quivering with excitement, dunning whipped out a bunch of skeleton keys, and lackled the lock of the outer ease. Not without, good reason had he earned the reputation of being the cleverest lock-picker in Europe. In less than live minutes lie stood inside Hie inner case, with the Oiillinan Diamond in his hand. And isixtv seconds later, after locking both doors behind him. he had quilted the apartments, with the precious jewels in his pocket. Neither sentries nor warders paid any. special attention to him. Without being slopped or even challenged, he reached the outer gate, and was in the act of stepping, into Ihe car when a hansom rattled'up and Sexton Wake sprang out. What happened next, happened so quickly as almost to defv coherent de-j seription. At the sight of Sexton lll.ike. , rlwm lie recogaiaetl at u glaum-. Cun-

ning wliijijicd out a revolver. Ere lie I could lire, however, the detective had ■ liim by the tliroul; whilst, at the sauic / moment, in response to a shout from I Sexton Blake, the constable on guard I at the gate threw himself on Hoffmann j and drugged him out of the car.

Two minutes later Gunning and Hoifinaiui had been overpowered and hustled into the Tower grounds, the gates had been closed, and the crowd which had meanwhile gathered outside had been curtly informed "there, was nothing to communicate."

The rust is soon told. The Culliiiau Diamond was found in. Gunning's pocket, ami he and Hoffmann were s'tibai'ijuently sentenced to twenty yearn' penal servitude. The Keeper of the Kegalia soon recovered from the effects of Running's blow, and lialph Wcllings at the present time is one of the leading photographers in London, and lias Royal authority for describing hiiusolt as "l'hotographer, by (Special Appointment, to ll.il. King Edward."