THEFT OF THE EMERALD NECKLACE.
"Early this afternoon," the lieutenant went on as the boys gathered about
him, "I was interviewed by a reporter for the _Daily Planet_."
"Frank's father owns that newspaper," Jimmie suggested.
"Yes," said the officer, "and that is why I thought Frank might know
something of the origin of the inquiry. The reporter was not slow in
getting at the point he was in my rooms to discuss. Almost the first
question he asked me was this: 'Is it true that the government has ordered
you to the Canal Zone to investigate an alleged plot to blow up the Gatun
dam?' Coming from a reporter, as it did, the question knocked me all in a
heap."
Ned Nestor leaned forward with a new interest showing in his face.
"I should think so," he said. "What did you tell him?"
"I tried to bluff him out at first, but soon learned that he knew more
about the Zone situation than I did. He didn't get much information from
me, but I learned from him that the _Daily Planet_ is wise to the whole
situation, as the boys say. Now, the question is this: 'Where did the
editor secure his information?' I asked him in so many words, but he only
laughed at me."
"The place to go for that information," Nestor suggested, "is to the
editor himself. Mr. Shaw would, of course, know all about it."
"That is exactly what I thought," said the lieutenant, "so I lost no time
in getting to the editorial rooms. Mr. Shaw was there, and treated me very
courteously, but the only satisfaction I could get from him was the
information that he knew something of what was going on, and was doing his
best to secure enough facts regarding the matter for a news story."
"I may be able to get more than that out of him," George ventured.
"I doubt it," the lieutenant said, "for he is afraid some rival newspaper
will get an inkling of the matter and beat him out on the sensation he is
preparing. It seems that his men have discovered documentary evidence of
some sort, papers which might be of great value in the hands of the
government."
"Wouldn't he give you a hint as to the contents of the papers?" asked
Ned.
"No; he wouldn't even give me an idea as to the parties he suspects. I
think he might have done that, in the interest of good government. Well,
of course his information is his own, but he might have trusted me not to
betray his confidence to his rivals. I must confess that I don't like his
attitude in the matter."
"The papers may contain nothing the government could use," Ned observed,
"although their value to the newspaper may be great."
"I would like to get a look at them, all the same," said Gordon.
"I wish he would call off his reporters," Ned went on. "If they go about
the city asking the questions they asked of you, the plotters will soon
know that they are being watched, and that will make their capture more
difficult."
"That is the idea," exclaimed the lieutenant. "Perhaps we can get him to
let the case alone for a few days."
"That is doubtful," Ned said, "but there is one ray of light in the
situation. If the plotters find out that the editor of the _Daily Planet_
has documentary evidence against them, they may try to steal the papers,
and so disclose their identity."
"I would steal them myself if I got a chance," laughed Gordon. "The
government needs every pointer it can get."
"Better let the others try first," advised Nestor, with a smile. "It
really does begin to look as if the first move in this Panama game might
be made right here in New York."
"I'd like to know where Shaw got the pointer," Gordon said, in a moment.
"I thought at first that Frank might have let out something in asking
permission to go to the Zone."
"He doesn't know a thing about it," Jimmie put in, warm in the defense of
his friend. "How could he drop a hint, then?"
"There was something said about the situation in Panama before we left the
Sierra del Fierro mountains in Mexico," said Nestor, "but I can't for the
life of me tell just what it was."
"It was nothing definite," said Harry Stevens, "for I had forgotten all
about it. There was some talk about our going to the Canal Zone, but
nothing was decided on, and the plot against the government wasn't
mentioned. At least that is my best recollection of the talk there."
"There was something more than that said," the lieutenant observed, "but
that is unimportant now. The thing to do, if we can, is to stop this
investigation by the _Daily Planet_. The reporters will let the cat out of
the bag and the interests back of the plot will either act immediately,
before we can check them, or delay the matter until everything in
connection with it is forgotten."
"If the papers collected by the _Daily Planet_ people give any inkling of
the motive which is leading the plotters on," Nestor said, "we really
ought to get hold of them."
"I believe you are as bad as the lieutenant, and would steal them yourself
if you got a chance," grinned Jimmie.
"I would at least try to get a look at them," was the reply.
"Look here, fellows!" George Tolford cried, excitedly, "I think I know
where Mr. Shaw got his pointer. It is this way: Mr. Shaw is interested in
Zone property, and owns a large block of stock in an emerald mine. He
spent most of the past winter on the Isthmus, and there is where he
unearthed the story. You take it from me that this is right."
"That view of the case makes it all the more imperative that we learn the
contents of the papers Mr. Shaw has," said the lieutenant, rising and
pacing the room excitedly. "If he got his information on the Isthmus, it
is more than likely that it points out not only the motive but also the
interest which is planning the outrage. I must send some high official to
talk with Mr. Shaw. He is interested in an emerald mine, you say?" he
asked.
"Sure he is," replied George Tolford. "Frank told me all about it not long
ago, at the time he showed me an emerald necklace his father gave him."
"An emerald necklace," repeated Jimmie. "What you gettin' at? Boys don't
wear necklaces."
"This emerald necklace," George went on, "is as old as the hills. Frank
says the stones were taken out of a mine in a valley in the interior of
Colombia four hundred years ago. There are twenty-five stones, each
weighing over six carats. Taken separately, the stones are worth a
thousand each, and together their price is fabulous. Frank says the
necklace formerly belonged to some secret order of natives, and that
$100,000 has been offered for it because of the perfectly matched stones,
and because of its wonderful history. It is a peach, I can tell you that,
and Frank will never go broke as long as he sticks to it."
"I didn't know that there were any emeralds down that way," Glen Howard
said. "We will bring a couple of carloads back with us."
"Emeralds down that way!" repeated Peter Fenton. "Why, the best emeralds
in the world are found in South America. The very best are found in veins
traversing clay-slate, hornblende slate, and granite, in a little valley
not far from Bogota, the capital of the United States of Colombia.
Inferior stones are found imbedded in mica slate in Europe. You see I've
been reading up on South America."
"It looks that way," laughed Lieutenant Gordon. "I must get a look at
Frank's emerald necklace before I leave New York."
"We may find one like it in the ruins of Spanish Panama," said Peter.
"Guess there ain't many ruins around Panama," declared Jimmie. "Not many
ruins anywhere Uncle Sam's soldiers are."
"Just the same," persisted Peter, "the Panama built by the Spaniards in
the year 1518 is now in ruins, unless it has been restored since the
Americans took possession of the Canal Zone. It lies six miles to the
northeast of the present city of that name."
"I wish Frank would drop in to-night," the lieutenant said, after a pause.
"I have an idea that he might suggest something of value just now, some
way in which his father may be reached. We are leaving for the Zone on
Thursday morning, so have only one more day in the city, consequently
there is no time to lose."
The boys fairly shrieked their appreciation of the information that they
were to depart for the Isthmus so soon, and gathered about Lieutenant
Gordon with extended hands.
"But you must understand this," the lieutenant said, returning the
greetings heartily, "you are not supposed to be in my company at all. I
may need to talk with some of you, but if I do it will be in a casual
manner, just as one tourist might address another. I am traveling alone,
understand. I shall stop at the Tivoli, at Ancon, a short distance from
Panama, and you will have a cottage in the jungle, near Gatun."
"And we are to ramble about wherever we like?" asked Harry.
"Wherever you like," was the reply, "only you must not look me up unless
in case of serious trouble. I'll communicate with you when necessary."
The boys all agreed to the conditions readily enough; they would have
consented to almost any arrangement in order to be taken on the trip.
After the details were disposed of, Ned called the lieutenant aside and
asked him a most surprising question:
"Are you really thinking of trying to steal those papers?"
"I've a great mind to make the attempt," was the smiling reply. "We need
them in our business, and, besides, the government has plenty of men here
who may as well be working on this case as any other."
"This is on the theory that the papers may reveal to you the nature of the
plot and the names of the plotters?"
"That is the idea, exactly. I have no doubt now that Mr. Shaw secured his
pointers while on the Isthmus, and the papers doubtless contain
information which it might take us months to procure. Yes, I think I shall
set men at work on the case to-morrow. Besides getting the papers, we will
rob Shaw of his sensation. A publication of the situation just now would
be a calamity."
"I think," Nestor said, modestly, "that I see a way to accomplish the ends
you seek without resorting to larceny. Will you promise me that you will
do nothing further in the matter of the documents until I have talked with
you again on the subject?"
"But it is imperative that we act quickly," protested the lieutenant.
"I understand that," Nestor replied, "but, all the same, I think I see a
way to gain our ends by keeping out of the way at present. Will you
promise?"
"Oh, yes! Have your own way about it. I can set the men at work just
before we leave New York, and the information contained in the papers can
be sent to me by code. Have your own way, my boy."
"Thank you," Nestor said, and the two returned to the main room. The
'phone in a closet near the door was ringing sharply, and Harry Stevens
entered the closet and shut the door. In a moment exclamations of dismay
and surprise were heard issuing from the other side of the closed door,
and then Harry bounced back into the room, his face white, his eyes
shining with excitement.
"What is it?" asked half a dozen voices.
"Lieutenant Gordon and Ned are wanted at Shaw's house at once," the boy
said. "Go on the run, boys, for there is something stirring there. Mr.
Shaw has been chloroformed, the servants knocked about like tenpins, and
Frank's emerald necklace has been stolen. We'll wait here for news."
"And so," the lieutenant said, looking Nestor in the eyes, "you were
waiting for the interests back of this thing to show their hand by trying
to get the papers."
"Yes," replied Nestor, "I had an idea the interests would try to do a
little stealing on their own hook."
"But if they have secured the papers--"
The lieutenant hesitated, and Nestor went on:
"If they have secured the papers, they know no more now than they did
before. They are not out after information concerning their own plots.
They are trying to reduce the outside supply of knowledge about their
movements."
"There was nothing said about papers being stolen, was there?" asked the
lieutenant. "Perhaps the necklace really was the point of attack."
Nestor turned to George Tolford.
"Do you know where Frank kept his necklace?" he asked.
"Sure I do," was the quick reply. "He kept it in a hinky-dinky little safe
up in his room. I told him he was foolish to take such a risk with it."
"Did he keep the safe locked?"
"Locked! Not half the time. He would rush in there, open it up, and then
run all over the house, leaving the door swinging."
Nestor and the lieutenant now left the room, after asking the boys to wait
there for a short time. Once out on the street, the lieutenant remarked:
"If the necklace was kept in Frank's room, why did the thief take the
pains to chloroform Mr. Shaw, who must have been in his own room?"
Nestor shrugged his shoulders for reply. That was a point he had already
considered. Again the lieutenant asked a question:
"If the papers had been taken, wouldn't that have been mentioned the very
first thing? Wouldn't Mr. Shaw think first of recovering them?"
"I don't know," replied Nestor. "The thing for us to do now is to find out
who it was that entered the Shaw house to-night, and what was taken
besides the necklace."