THE DIAMOND BRACELET.
This was to be a night of surprising adventure to Jeremiah. He was
punctual to time. As the church clock struck the hour of nine he arrived
at the Langham Hotel, and in accordance with Captain Ablewhite's
instructions, waited on the opposite side of the road. There was no
moon, and he paced the flag-stones in shadow. A quarter past nine,
half-past, three-quarters past, then the chiming of ten o'clock, and
still no Captain. Jeremiah was in a bewilderment of agonized suspense;
he was on the brink of a precipice, and he relied upon Captain Ablewhite
to save him--by what means he knew not, but he depended upon the
Captain's word. "He is detained," thought Jeremiah; "the train is late;
he is not a punctual man; perhaps he said ten o'clock instead of nine.
At all events, I'll wait for him." The minutes sped on; a quarter past
ten, half past, three-quarters past, and now another hour had passed. It
was eleven o'clock, and Jeremiah, worked up into a state of terrible
excitement, continued to pace up and down, up and down. Two or three
times a policeman, attracted by his monotonous movements, strolled past,
and carelessly looked at him; and on these occasions Jeremiah strove to
hide his face from the policeman's scrutiny. "Will he never come?"
thought Jeremiah--"will he never come?" At half-past eleven a singular
incident occurred. A voice at his back accosted him. It was a woman's
voice.
"Don't turn," the woman said. "Your name is Pamflett?"
"Yes," answered Jeremiah, much amazed.
"You are waiting for some one?"
"Yes."
"For whom?"
"Captain Ablewhite."
"That is right. Take this."
The woman slipped a packet into his hand and was gone. Jeremiah,
turning, saw no trace of her. No time was afforded him for reflection.
The Captain's voice struck upon his ear.
"Follow me," it said.
Without the evidence of the voice Jeremiah would not have recognized
Captain Ablewhite, who was enveloped in a large Inverness cape, and upon
whose head was a hat unlike that which he usually wore. He followed the
Captain, who walked very fast, until they reached a narrow street at
some distance from the Langham. It was a thoroughfare which appeared to
be quite deserted.
"Well, old fellow?" said Captain Ablewhite.
"Well?" responded the mystified Jeremiah.
"Couldn't help being late. Knew you would wait for me. Ah! you have the
packet, I see."
"This?" said Jeremiah.
"Yes, this;" and Captain Ablewhite took it from his hands.
"It was given to me by a woman, who hid herself from me. What is the
meaning of it?"
"You will know soon enough. Go and fetch a four-wheeler."
Jeremiah departed, and returned with the conveyance.
"Give the driver this half-sovereign," whispered Captain Ablewhite.
"Tell him it is on account, and that he has a good fare. Instruct him to
drive along the Finchley road. No questions, old chap; do as I bid you."
Jeremiah followed out the instructions, and the next moment he and
Captain Ablewhite were in the cab.
"No place like a four-wheeler," said the Captain, "for an interchange of
confidences. Give me your closest attention, friend Jeremiah. You're in
luck's way. Being in one of those awkward fixes which invariably land a
fellow in jail and ruin him for ever and ever, amen! something has
turned up to save you. This is the way of it--but before I go into the
matter you are to understand that you are to make no inquiries. What I
choose to impart I will impart--nothing more. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"To proceed, then. A lady friend of mine--call her a Duchess--has
pressing need for a large sum of money, and has only one means of
raising it. The amount she requires is four thousand pounds, and she has
handed you jewels worth ten times as much. In a month from this date
the four thousand will be repaid with interest, and the jewels will be
handed back to her. They are in this packet. Seeing's believing; you
shall see them."
He unfastened the packet, and took a morocco case from the wrapper. Then
he produced a box of wax tapers, which he gave to Jeremiah, bidding him
to keep up a light, in order that he might have a good view of the
jewels. He nicked the morocco case open, and exposed to view a bracelet
of diamonds of such extraordinary size that Jeremiah could not help
giving utterance to an exclamation of astonishment.
"You may well cry out," said Captain Ablewhite. "The stones, if they're
worth a penny, are worth fifty thousand pounds. Do you wish to know how
I became associated with the affair? Well, I've no objection to tell
you. The fact is, the Duchess is an old flame of mine. An antique Duke
falling in love with her, and being in his dotage, I naturally consent
to the marriage. But she is an awfully extravagant woman, and needing
instantly the sum of money I mentioned, comes to me. 'I have a friend,'
I say to her, 'in the money-lending way, who, if you give him security,
will obtain millions for you.' Whereupon she says she will leave her
wonderful diamond bracelet with my friend until she pays back the four
thousand with ample interest. That will be your profit, Jeremiah. She
dare not pledge these diamonds in the regular way with the men who deal
regularly in such affairs. It would come to her husband's ears; and
although the diamonds are hers, to do as she likes with, there is the
future to be considered. The Duke makes her a handsome allowance; he has
drawn up his will, leaving her as much as it is in his power to do; he
is a very jealous, irascible, pompous-headed old idiot, and it is
therefore imperative that this little matter shall be negotiated in such
a way as to render it impossible it can come to his knowledge. He brings
his wife to London this evening; his town mansion is not in a fit state
to receive his noble carcass, so his wife drives him to the Langham. She
knows from me that a friend--you, Jeremiah--is waiting outside the
hotel; she comes to you, addresses you, slips her bracelet into your
hand, and vanishes. What confidence! What imprudence! Dear little soul!
As for the interest, charge her sixty, eighty, a hundred per cent. Yes,
charge her a hundred. It won't come out of her pocket, it will come out
of the Duke's. 'But,' say you, '_I_ haven't the money to advance; I'm
clean stumped.' That need not stop the cart, friend Jeremiah. What you
have to do is to go to your governor, Farebrother, and show him these
diamonds. If the sight of them doesn't set his thin blood in a glow,
nothing will. You say to him, 'The lady requires _six_ thousand pounds
on them for a month. She will give one thousand pounds interest.' That
is at the rate of two hundred per cent. per annum, friend Jeremiah. You
continue: 'If the money is not repaid at the end of the month, the
diamonds are yours; they become forfeited. Here is a letter from her to
that effect.' I will give it to you presently, Jeremiah, and you can
hand it to the governor. He won't be able to resist the bait. How about
the ready? Can he lay hands on it?"
"He has bonds that he can sell," replied Jeremiah.
"Good. You can manage that for him. Now, how do _you_ benefit by the
transaction? First and foremost, you get six thousand pounds from the
governor; you hand me four and keep two. From what you let drop, friend
Jeremiah, you need some such sum of ready money to replace the cash you
lost at Doncaster. Well, there you have it, and you will be spared
acquaintance with the criminal court. In a month you will receive four
thousand pounds interest on the loan, of which you hand the governor one
thousand, retaining three, which you pay to me off what you owe the
book-maker. To oblige me, he will wait. The personal accounts between
you and me we will go into by-and-by. You see, friend Jeremiah,
something very disagreeable, shockingly disagreeable, stares you in the
face, and this is the only way out of it. I shall expect you to show
your gratitude. That such a slice of luck should fall to you just in the
nick of time is nothing less than miraculous. Now, then, how does the
thing strike you? Farebrother will lend the money, won't he? If he
doesn't, or if you have any doubt of it, I can take the diamonds
somewhere else."
"I don't think," said Jeremiah, slowly, "that there is any doubt he will
lend the money."
"Very well, then. Carry it through, and keep it dark. See the governor
to-morrow and arrange it. You'll do it?"
"Yes."
"There's nothing more to say, then. Just see the confidence I have in
you, leaving you this treasure without so much as a receipt for it. But
I know you can be trusted just now, because of the fix you're in. I must
see you to-morrow night to hear what you have to tell. Best not to meet
at my place or yours till this little matter is concluded. Say at ten
o'clock, just outside Whitechapel Church."
"You will be punctual?" said Jeremiah.
"Oh yes," said Captain Ablewhite, laughing; "I will be punctual. Ta-ta!
Call to the driver to stop."
He jumped from the cab as the driver was pulling up, leaving Jeremiah to
make his way back to London alone.
On the following night, at ten o'clock, they met outside Whitechapel
Church, and Jeremiah informed Captain Ablewhite that Miser Farebrother
had consented to lend the money. On Tuesday evening Captain Ablewhite
received four thousand pounds from Jeremiah, and the gallant Captain
walked off with a very peculiar smile on his face. A few hours afterward
he was whirling away in the night train to Dover, bound for Italy.