The Black Mask E. W. Hornung (mobile ebook reader .TXT) đ
- Author: E. W. Hornung
Book online «The Black Mask E. W. Hornung (mobile ebook reader .TXT) đ». Author E. W. Hornung
âRight away,â Raffles was saying. âWeâll choose for her, and youâll change anything she donât like. Is that the idea?â
âThat was my suggestion, sir.â
âThen come on, Ezra. I guess you know Sadieâs taste. You help me choose.â
And we choseâ âlord! What did we not choose? There was her ring, a diamond half-hoop. It cost ÂŁ95, and there was no attempt to get it for ÂŁ90. Then there was a diamond neckletâ âtwo hundred guineas, but pounds accepted. That was to be the gift of the bridegroom. The wedding was evidently imminent. It behooved me to play a brotherly part. I therefore rose to the occasion; calculated she would like a diamond star (ÂŁ116), but reckoned it was more than I could afford; and sustained a vicious kick under the table for either verb. I was afraid to open my mouth on finally obtaining the star for the round hundred. And then the fat fell in the fire; for pay we could not; though a remittance (said Raffles) was âoverdo from Noo York.â
âBut I donât know you, gentlemen,â the jeweller exclaimed. âI havenât even the name of your hotel!â
âI told you we was stoppinâ with friends,â said Raffles, who was not angry, though thwarted and crushed. âBut thatâs right, sir! Oh, thatâs dead right, and Iâm the last man to ask you to take quixotic risks. Iâm tryinâ to figure a way out. Yes, sir, thatâs what Iâm tryinâ to do.â
âI wish you could, sir,â the jeweller said, with feeling. âIt isnât as if we hadnât seen the color of your money. But certain rules Iâm sworn to observe; it isnât as if I was in business for myself; andâ âyou say you start for Paris in the morning!â
âOn the 9 a.m. train,â mused Raffles; âand Iâve heard no-end yarns about the joolersâ stores in Parrus. But that ainât fair; donât you take no notice oâ that. Iâm tryinâ to figure a way out. Yes, sir!â
He was smoking cigarettes out of a twenty-five box; the tradesman and I had cigars. Raffles sat frowning with a pregnant eye, and it was only too clear to me that his plans had miscarried. I could not help thinking, however, that they deserved to do so, if he had counted upon buying credit for all but ÂŁ400 by a single payment of some ten percent. That again seemed unworthy of Raffles, and I, for my part, still sat prepared to spring any moment at our visitorâs throat.
âWe could mail you the money from Parrus,â drawled Raffles at length. âBut how should we know youâd hold up your end of the string, and mail us the same articles weâve selected tonight?â
The visitor stiffened in his chair. The name of his firm should be sufficient guarantee for that.
âI guess Iâm no better acquainted with their name than they are with mine,â remarked Raffles, laughing. âSee here, though! I got a scheme. You pack âem in this!â
He turned the cigarettes out of the tin box, while the jeweller and I joined wondering eyes.
âPack âem in this,â repeated Raffles, âthe three things we want, and never mind the boxes; you can pack âem in cotton-wool. Then weâll ring for string and sealing wax, seal up the lot right here, and you can take âem away in your grip. Within three days weâll have our remittance, and mail you the money, and youâll mail us this darned box with my seal unbroken! Itâs no use you lookinâ so sick, Mr. Jooler; you wonât trust us any, and yet weâre goinâ to trust you some. Ring the bell, Ezra, and weâll see if theyâve gotten any sealing-wax and string.â
They had; and the thing was done. The tradesman did not like it; the precaution was absolutely unnecessary; but since he was taking all his goods away with him, the sold with the unsold, his sentimental objections soon fell to the ground. He packed necklet, ring, and star, with his own hands, in cotton-wool; and the cigarette-box held them so easily that at the last moment, when the box was closed, and the string ready, Raffles very nearly added a diamond bee-brooch at ÂŁ51 10s. This temptation, however, he ultimately overcame, to the otherâs chagrin. The cigarette-box was tied up, and the string sealed, oddly enough, with the diamond of the ring that had been bought and paid for.
âIâll chance you having another ring in the store the dead spit of mine,â laughed Raffles, as he relinquished the box, and it disappeared into the tradesmanâs bag. âAnd now, Mr. Robinson, I hope youâll appreciate my true hospitality in not offering you anything to drink while business was in progress. Thatâs ChĂąteau Margaux, sir, and I should judge itâs what youâd call an eighteen-carat article.â
In the cab which we took to the vicinity of the flat, I was instantly snubbed for asking questions which the driver might easily overhear, and took the repulse just a little to heart. I could make neither head nor tail of Rafflesâs dealings with the man from Regent Street, and was naturally inquisitive as to the meaning of it all. But I held my tongue until we had regained the flat in the cautious manner of our exit, and even there until Raffles rallied me with a hand on either shoulder and an old smile upon his face.
âYou rabbit!â said he. âWhy couldnât you wait till we got home?â
âWhy couldnât you tell me what you were going to do?â I retorted as of yore.
âBecause your dear old phiz is still worth its weight in innocence, and because you never could act for nuts! You looked as puzzled as the other poor devil; but you wouldnât if you had known what my game really was.â
âAnd pray what was it?â
âThat,â said Raffles, and he smacked the cigarette-box down
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