The Argosy | Page 7

be one whit
wiser on the one point on which he thirsted for information than he was
now. Still, he was glad for various reasons to retain his pleasant
quarters a little while longer.
Truth to tell, in Captain Ducie M. Platzoff had found a guest so much
to his liking that he could not make up his mind to let him go again.
Ducie was incurious, or appeared to be so; he saw and heard, and asked
no questions. He seemed to be absolutely destitute of political
principles, and therein he formed a pleasant contrast both to M. Platzoff

himself and to the swarm of foreign gentlemen who at different times
found their way to Bon Repos. He was at once a good listener and a
good talker. In fine, he made in every way so agreeable, and was at the
same time so thorough a gentleman that Platzoff was as glad to retain
him as he himself was pleased to stay.
Three out of the Captain's second term of six weeks had nearly come to
an end when on a certain evening, as he and Platzoff sat together in the
smoke-room, the latter broached a subject which Ducie would have
wagered all he possessed--though that was little enough--that his host
would have been the last man in the world even to hint at.
"I think I have heard you say that you have a taste for diamonds and
precious stones," remarked Platzoff. Ducie had hazarded such a remark
on one or two occasions as a quiet attempt to draw Platzoff out, but had
only succeeded in eliciting a little shrug and a cold smile, as though for
him such a statement could have no possible interest.
"If I have said so to you I have only spoken the truth," replied Ducie. "I
am passionately fond of gems and precious stones of every kind. Have
you any to show me?"
"I have in my possession a green diamond said to be worth a hundred
and fifty thousand pounds," answered the Russian quietly.
The simulated surprise with which Captain Ducie received this
announcement was a piece of genuine comedy. His real surprise arose
from the fact of Platzoff having chosen to mention the matter to him at
all.
"Great heaven!" he exclaimed. "Can you be in earnest? Had I heard
such a statement from the lips of any other man than you, I should have
questioned either his sanity or his truth."
"You need not question either one or the other in my case," answered
Platzoff, with a smile. "My assertion is true to the letter. Some evening
when I am less lazy than I am now, you shall see the stone and examine
it for yourself."

"I take it as a great proof of your friendship for me, monsieur," said
Ducie warmly, "that you have chosen to make me the recipient of such
a confidence."
"It is a proof of my friendship," said the Russian. "No one of my
political friends--and I have many that are dear to me, both in England
and abroad--is aware that I have in my possession so inestimable a gem.
But you, sir, are an English gentleman, and my friend for reasons
unconnected with politics; I know that my secret will be safe in your
keeping."
Ducie winced inwardly, but he answered with grave cordiality, "The
event, my dear Platzoff, will prove that your confidence has not been
misplaced."
After this, the Russian went on to tell Ducie that the MS. lost at the
time of the railway accident had reference to the great Diamond; that it
contained secret instructions, addressed to a very dear friend of the
writer, as to the disposal of the Diamond after his, Platzoff's, death; all
of which was quite as well known to Ducie as to the Russian himself;
but the Captain sat with his pipe between his lips, and listened with an
appearance of quiet interest that impressed his host greatly.
That night Ducie's mind was too excited to allow of sleep. He was
about to be shown the great Diamond; but would the mere fact of
seeing it advance him one step towards obtaining possession of it?
Would Platzoff, when showing him the stone, show him also the place
where it was ordinarily kept? His confidence in Ducie would scarcely
carry him as far as that. In any case, it would be something to have seen
the Diamond, and for the rest, Ducie must trust to the chapter of
accidents and his own wits. On one point he was fully determined--to
make the Diamond his own at any cost, if the slightest possible chance
of doing so were afforded him. He was dazzled by the magnitude of the
temptation; so much so, indeed, that he never seemed to