The Gem Collector | Page 8

smart man.
This brief but pregnant letter cost him some pains in its composition.

He was not a ready writer. But he completed it at last to his satisfaction.
There was a crisp purity in the style which pleased him. He read it over,
and put in a couple of commas. Then he placed it in an envelope, and
lit another cigar.
CHAPTER IV.
Jimmy's acquaintance with Spennie Blunt had developed rapidly in the
few days following their first meeting. Spennie had called next
morning to repay the loan, and two days later had invited Jimmy to
come down to Shropshire with him. Which invitation, Jimmy, bored
with London, had readily accepted. Spike he had decided to take with
him in the rôle of valet. The Bowery boy was probably less fitted for
the post than any one has ever been since the world began; but it would
not do to leave him at Savoy Mansions.
It had been arranged that they should meet Spennie at Paddington
station. Accompanied by Spike, who came within an ace of looking
almost respectable in new blue serge, Jimmy arrived at Paddington
with a quarter of an hour to spare. Nearly all London seemed to be at
the station, with the exception of Spennie. Of that light-haired and
hearted youth there were no signs. But just as the train was about to
start, the missing one came skimming down the platform and hurled
himself in. For the first ten minutes he sat panting. At the conclusion of
that period, he spoke.
"Dash it!" he said. "I've suddenly remembered I never telegraphed
home to let 'em know what train we were coming by. Now what'll
happen is that there won't be anything at Corven to meet us and take us
up to the abbey. And you can't get a cab. They don't grow such things."
"How far is it to walk?"
"Five solid miles. And uphill most of the way. And I've got a bad foot!"
"As a matter of fact," said Jimmy, "it's just possible that we shall be
met, after all. While I was waiting for you at Paddington I heard a man
asking if he had to change for Corven. He may be going to the abbey,

too."
"What sort of a looking man?"
"Tall. Thin. Rather a wreck."
"Probably my Uncle Thomas. Frightful man. Always trying to roast a
chap, don't, you know. Still, there's one consolation. If it is Uncle
Thomas, they'll have sent the automobile for him. I shouldn't think he'd
ever walked more than a hundred yards in his natural, not at a stretch.
He generally stays with us in the summer. I wonder if he's bringing
Aunt Julia with him. You didn't see her, I suppose, by any chance? Tall,
and talks to beat the band. He married her for her money," concluded
Spennie charitably.
"Isn't she attractive, either?"
"Aunt Julia," said Spennie with feeling, "is the absolute limit. Wait till
you see her. Sort of woman who makes you feel that your hands are the
color of a frightful tomato and the size of a billiard table, if you know
what I mean. By gad, though, you should see her jewels. It's perfectly
beastly the way that woman crams them on. She's got one rope of
pearls which is supposed to have cost forty thousand pounds. Look out
for it to-night at dinner. It's worth seeing."
Jimmy Pitt was distressed to feel distinct symptoms of a revival of the
Old Adam as he listened to these alluring details. It was trying a
reformed man a little high, he could not help thinking with some
indignation, to dangle forty thousand pounds' worth of pearls before his
eyes over the freshly turned sods of the grave of his past. It was the sort
of test which might have shaken the resolution of the oldest established
brand from the burning.
He could not keep his mind from dwelling on the subject. Even the fact
that--commercially--there was no need for him to think of such things
could not restrain him. He was rich now, and could afford to be honest.
He tried to keep that fact steadily before him, but instinct was too
powerful. His operations in the old days had never been conducted

purely with an eye to financial profit. He had collected gems almost as
much for what they were as for what they could bring. Many a time had
the faithful Spike bewailed the flaw in an otherwise admirable
character, which had induced his leader to keep a portion of the spoil
instead of converting it at once into good dollar bills. It had had to go
sooner or later, but Jimmy had always clung to it as long as possible.
To Spike a diamond brooch of cunning workmanship was