Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 92: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

882 the place I was put under arrest at once. An hour later alienists were studying me. “In short, my story was too strange to be believed. They considered that, exact- ly as the commodore had suggested, the storm and my. narrow escape had been too much for me. It was felt to be too highly circumstantial that I should have succeed- ed in getting the great pearl out of the depths of the sea only a moment or two before the storm struck. “They called upon the commodore. They: took me with them. They confront- ed him with me and I rehearsed my story. The commodore, without a word, opened his safe, took out the drawer, and exposed the pearl. “Ts this,’ he said, ‘ the pearl you refer to?’ “] shouted at him in a fury that he knew well enough it was the pearl I referred to. ‘“‘ At this he shook his head and told the alienists that they could make up their minds for themselves, that he was a known collector and would be glad to have them look up his record as a purchaser of jewels; that he had bought this pearl in such and such a place—giving the name of a jeweler who would, of course, be bribed to lie until he was blue in the face—and finally, that he would be glad to have the gentleman taste his brandy before they returned to the shore. ‘What could they do? They stayed, they were enchanted by the quality of his brandy, the quality of his cigars. He told them a merry tale or two, sufficiently spiced to suit men of their standing. And then he asked their opinion as to my condition and suddenly and magnificently offered to bear the charge of a ticket to the States for me, and six months in some good sana- torium: ‘ because,’ he said, ‘ he did not wish to leave half finished his work of saving a life from the sea and the storm.’ “The alienists left the ship convinced that he was a fine fellow, worthy of heaven, indeed. As for me, I was lucky to get out of the affair without landing in jail. “That first attempt taught me what I had to expect when I appealed bluntly to the law. And I have never tried it again. I tried the commodore, however, again and ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. again. What else was I to do? I even went so far as to call on him. “He received me willingly enough. I accused him point-blank of having done all this simply as vengeance because of my success with the lady of whom I have al- ready. spoken. ‘And he was frank enough not to deny it. He had suffered, he said, on account of my victory in that affair. He was now determined to have as much pleasure at my expense as I had once enjoyed at his. Be- sides, he had grown attached to the pearl. That, he felt, was a sufficient answer for me. “There was nothing that I could do. I took up my hat and leit him. “ After that, I made an attempt upon his safe. I managed to get the combina- tion of it, and when E had opened the safe I made a thorough examination. But I could come upon no trace of the pearl. “ And following this, it became the work of my life to recover the pearl which he had stolen from me. JI had many reasons for centering my attention upon it. For the one thing, my career in the Orient was wrecked. I was broke. My debts were large. I had depended upon the sale of the pearl, you may remember, to put me in the clear. And because the pearl was lost, I was utterly wrecked. “T could no longer hold up my head among men of my own caste. The result was that I gave up year after year of my life to schemes to regain the Sheik. My efforts at least caused the commodore to keep the pearl secretly. I was so closely on his heels that he dared not show the Sheik to any of his friends. It was a plea- sure which he kept to himself. He feared that one of his companions might be a con- federate of mine. And the Sheik is of such a value that it is well worth the efforts of half a dozen men of position. ‘“So he formed the habit of showing the pearl to no one. After a time he kept all of his collection of jewels secret. He told his friends that he had sold them. But all the time I knew, and there are others east of Suez who also know that he must have kept them with him all the time. One can- not sell such gems as those without having EGOMmIiGbookssco