Final Proof Part 35

"Release him, Mr. Barnes. I have my property."

Mr. Barnes obeyed, and for an instant Mr. Livingstone seemed weighing his chances, but evidently deciding that the odds were in all ways against him, he rushed from the apartment and out of the house.

"Well, Mr. Mitchel," said Mr. Barnes, "now that the danger has pa.s.sed, an explanation seems to be in order. You seem to have four opals."

"Yes; but that is merely seeming. You will readily understand why I wished your eyes, for without them I could not have taken my own off of the opals even for an instant."

"Then you purposely turned your back when you went to get the silver band?"

"a.s.suredly. Why could I not have taken out the band in the first instance, and why did I lock the safe, making it necessary for me to take time with the combination? Simply to give my man the opportunity to do his trick. You see, I knew before he came here exactly what he would do."

"How did you know?"

"You will recall that in his letter he offers to sell me the duplicate opal. That made me smile when I read it, for I already had been notified that he had had duplicates of his opal made."

"You had been notified?"

"Yes. This whole affair flatters my vanity, for I antic.i.p.ated the event in its minutest detail, and all by a.n.a.lytical deduction. You quite correctly argued that Livingstone would not abandon his quest of the opal. I also reached that point, and then I asked myself, 'How will he get it, knowing that I would not sell?' I could find but one way. He would offer to sell his, and during the transaction try to steal mine.

As he would need both opals in his Mexican mining venture, his only chance of carrying both away with him would be to have two others to leave in their stead. Thus I argued that he would endeavor to have two duplicates of his opal made. Ordinarily, opals are not sufficiently expensive to make it pay to produce spurious specimens. Consequently, it has been little done; indeed, I doubt that the members of the trade in this city have any idea that doublet opals have been made and sold in this city. But I know it, and I know the man who made the doublets.

These were common opals, faced with thin layers of a fine quality of 'harlequin' which often comes in such thin layers that it is practically useless for cutting into stones, though it has been utilized for cameos and intaglios. This lapidary does his work admirably, and his cement is practically invisible. I went to this man and warned him that he might be called upon to duplicate a large and valuable opal, and I arranged that he should fill the order, but that he should notify me of the fact."

"Ah, now I understand. The genuine opals lay on the desk, and when you turned to the safe Livingstone merely exchanged them for the spurious doublets. But tell me why did he risk bringing the real opal here at all? Why not offer you one of the doublets, and then merely have one exchange to make?"

"He was too shrewd to risk that. In the first place, he knows I am an expert, and that I would compare the two jewels before making the purchase; he feared that under such close scrutiny I would discover the deception. Secondly, the two genuine opals absolutely match each other.

So also the two doublets are actual mates. But the doublets only approximately resemble the real opals."

"Mr. Mitchel, you have managed Livingstone admirably, but there still remains the man Domingo. Until he is disposed of I still think there is danger. Pardon my pertinacity."

"I told you at the beginning of this incident that I had a spy upon Livingstone, but that though the method was commonplace, my choice of a spy was unique. My spy was Livingstone's partner, Domingo."

"What! You were on intimate terms with Domingo?"

"Was not that my best course? I found the man, and at once explained to him that as Livingstone never could get my opal, it would be best to shift the partnership and aid me to get Livingstone's. Thus you see, having, as it were, conceived the logical course for Livingstone to pursue, I had his partner Domingo suggest it to him."

"Even the idea of the doublets?"

"Certainly. I gave Domingo the address of the lapidary, and Domingo supplied it to Livingstone."

"Mr. Mitchel, you are a wonder as a schemer. But now you have Domingo on your hands?"

"Only for a short time. Domingo is not such a bloodthirsty cutthroat as your friend Sanchez made you believe. He readily admitted that the game was up when I explained to him that I had one of the opals, a fact which Livingstone had not communicated to him. I had little difficulty in persuading him to become my a.s.sistant; money liberally applied often proving a salve for blasted hopes. Besides, I have raised his hopes again, and in a way by which he may yet become possessed of that opal mine, and without a partner."

"Why, how do you mean?"

"I shall give him the doublets, and I have no doubt he can palm them off on the old priests, who will not examine too closely, so anxious are they to see the eyes of the idol restored."

"There is yet one thing that I do not fully understand. Sanchez told me----"

"Sanchez told you nothing, except what he was instructed to tell you."

"Do you mean to say----"

"I mean that Sanchez's story of my danger was told to you so that you would come here this morning. You noted yourself that I must have expected you, when you found the bookcase arranged for you. I had an idea that I might need a strong and faithful arm, and I had both. Mr.

Barnes, without your a.s.sistance, I must have failed."

VIII

THE PEARLS OF ISIS

Mr. Barnes sat for a while in silence, gazing at Mr. Mitchel. The masterly manner in which that gentleman had managed the affair throughout won his admiration and elevated him more than ever in his esteem. The denouement was admirable. Before handing over the check Mr.

Mitchel had led Mr. Livingstone to state in the presence of a concealed witness that the opal about to be sold was genuine, whereas, as a matter of fact, the one on the desk at that moment was spurious. Then the payment with a check and the exacting of a receipt furnished tangible proofs of the nature of the transaction. Thus, even eliminating the theft of the other opal, Mr. Mitchel was in the position to prove that the man had obtained a large sum of money by false pretenses. The recovery of the stolen opal practically convicted Mr. Livingstone of a still greater crime, and with a witness to the various details of the occurrence Mr. Mitchel had so great a hold upon him that it would be most improbable that Mr. Livingstone would pursue his scheme further.

The second conspirator, Domingo, was equally well disposed of, for if he returned to Mexico with the imitation opals, either the priests would discover the fraud and deal with the man themselves, or, by their failing to do so, he would gain possession of the opal mine.

In either event there would be no reason for him to return to trouble Mr. Mitchel.

"I see the whole scheme," said Mr. Barnes at length, "and I must congratulate you upon the conception and conduct of the affair. You have courteously said that I have been of some a.s.sistance, and though I doubt it, I would like to exact a price for my services."

"Certainly," said Mr. Mitchel. "Every man is worthy of his hire, even when he is not aware of the fact that he has been hired, I presume. Name your reward. What shall it be?"

"From my place of concealment, a while ago, I observed that before you took out the opal, you removed from the box a magnificent string of pearls. As you have claimed that all valuable jewels have some story of crime, or attempted crime, attached to them, I fancy you could tell an interesting tale about those pearls."

"Ah; and you would like to hear the story?"

"Yes; very much!"

"Well, it is a pretty old one now, and no harm can come, especially if you receive the tale in confidence."

"a.s.suredly."

"They are beautiful, are they not?" said Mr. Mitchel, taking them up almost affectionately, and handing them to Mr. Barnes. "I call them the Pearls of Isis."

"The Pearls of Isis?" said Mr. Barnes, taking them. "An odd name, considering that the G.o.ddess is a myth. How could she wear jewelry?"

"Oh, the name originated with myself. I will explain that in a moment.

First let me say a few words in a general way. You ask me for the story of that string of pearls. If what is told of them in Mexico is true, there is a pathetic tale for each particular pearl, aside from the many legends that are related of the entire string."

"And do you know all of these histories?"

"No, indeed. I wish that I did. But I can tell you some of the legendry.

In Humboldt's _American Researches_ you will find an ill.u.s.tration showing the figure of what he calls 'The Statue of an Aztec Priestess.'

The original had been discovered by M. Dupe. The statue was cut from basalt, and the point of chief interest in it is the head-dress, which resembles the calantica, or veil of Isis, the Sphinxes, and other Egyptian statues. On the forehead of this stone priestess was found a string of pearls, of which Humboldt says: 'The pearls have never been found on any Egyptian statue, and indicate a communication between the city of Tenocht.i.tlan, ancient Mexico, and the coast of California, where pearls are found in great numbers.' Humboldt himself found a similar statue decorated with pearls in the ruins of Tezcuco, and this is still in the museum at Berlin, where I have seen it. Humboldt doubted that these statues represented priestesses, but thought rather that they were merely figures of ordinary women, and he bases this view on the fact that the statues have long hair, whereas it was the custom of the tepanteohuatzin, a dignitary controlling the priestesses, to cut off the tresses of these virgins when they devoted themselves to the services of the temple. M. Dupe thought that this statue represented one of the temple virgins, while, as I have said, Humboldt concluded that they had no religious connection. My own view is that both of these gentlemen were wrong, and that these and similar statues were images of the G.o.ddess Isis."

"But I thought that Isis was an Old World G.o.ddess?"

"So she was, and the oldest world is this continent. We need not now enter upon a discussion of the reasons upon which I base my belief.