Part 38 (2/2)
He carried the ring to his employer, and quickly explained the circ.u.mstances.
”The man is doubtless a thief. He must be arrested,” said the jeweler.
”If I go for an officer, he will take alarm.”
”Invite him to come into the back part of the shop, and I will protract the negotiation while you summon a policeman.”
The clerk returned, and at his invitation Mr. Montgomery walked to the lower end of the store, where he was introduced to the head of the establishment. Sharp though he was, he suspected no plot.
”You are the owner of this ring?” asked Mr. Tiffany.
”Yes, sir,” said the adventurer. ”It has been in our family for a long time.”
”But you wish to sell it now?”
”Yes; I have come near losing it several times, and prefer to dispose of it. What is its value?”
”That requires some consideration. I will examine it closely.”
Mr. Montgomery stood with his back to the entrance, waiting patiently, while the jeweler appeared to be engaged in a close examination of the ring. He congratulated himself that no questions had been asked which it might have been difficult for him to answer. He made up his mind that after due examination Mr. Tiffany would make an offer, which he determined in advance to accept, whatever it might be, since he would consider himself fortunate to dispose of it at even two-thirds of its value.
Meanwhile the clerk quietly slipped out of the store, and at a short distance encountered a policeman, upon whom he called for a.s.sistance.
At the same moment Paul and Mr. Preston came up. Our hero, on being released from arrest, had sought Mr. Preston, and the latter obligingly agreed to go with him to Tiffany's, and certify to his honesty, that, if the ring should be brought there, it might be retained for him. Paul did not recognize the clerk, but the latter at once remembered him.
”Are you not the boy that brought a diamond ring into our store this morning?” he asked.
”Into Tiffany's?”
”Yes.”
”Have you seen anything of it?” asked our hero, eagerly. ”I am the one who brought it in.”
”A man just brought it into the store,” said the clerk.
”Is he there now?”
”He is talking with Mr. Tiffany. I came out for a policeman. He will be arrested at once.”
”Good!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Paul; ”I am in luck. I thought I should never see the ring again. What sort of a man is he?”
From the description, Paul judged that it was Felix Montgomery himself, and, remembering what a trick the adventurer had played upon him at Lovejoy's Hotel, he felt no little satisfaction in the thought that the trapper was himself trapped at last.
”I'll go along with you,” he said. ”I want to see that man arrested.”
”You had better stay outside just at first, until we have secured him.”
Meanwhile Mr. Tiffany, after a prolonged examination, said: ”The ring is worth two hundred and fifty dollars.”
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