A robbery such as that, if it were
ever accomplished, would stir the country from end to end; it would set
New York by the ears; it would loose the police in full cry like a pack
of bloodhounds with their leashes slipped. The society columns of the
newspapers had been busy for months featuring the coming marriage of the
Ross-Logans' daughter to one of the country's young merchant princes.
The combined fortunes of the two families would make the young couple
the richest in America. The prospective groom's wedding gift was to be
a diamond necklace of perfectly matched, large stones that would eclipse
anything of the kind in the country. Europe, the foreign markets, had
been literally combed and ransacked to supply the gems. The stones had
arrived in New York the day before, the duty on them alone amounting to
over fifty thousand dollars. All this had appeared in the papers.
Jimmie Dale's brows drew together in a frown. On just exactly what
percentage the duty was figured he did not know; but it was high
enough on the basis of fifty thousand dollars to assume safely that the
assessed value of the stones was not less than four times that amount.
Two hundred thousand dollars--laid down, a quarter of a million! Well,
why not? In more than one quarter diamonds were ranked as the soundest
kind of an investment. Furthermore, through personal acquaintance with
the "high contracting parties," who were in his own set, he knew it to
be true.
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