University of South Carolina Libraries
v'' : WKL H* 11 ?*? 1 The Diamoi 1 Fr By ROY L. Copyrighted 1915, by Roy L, | This instalment of this romantic novel and absorbing narrative will be shown in motion pictures at The Casino Theatre on Thursday afternoon and night. $10,000 For 1,000 Words or Less For an Idea For a Sequel to "THE DIAMOND FROM THE SKY" The American Film Manufacturing Company's Picturized Romantic Novel In Chapters. This contest is open to any man, woman or child who is not connected, directly or indirectly, with the Film Company or the newspaper s publishing the continued story. No literary ability is necessary to qualify as a contestant. You are advised to see the continued photo play in the theaters where it will be shown to read the story as it runs every week, and then send in your suggestion. Contestants must confine their contributions for the sequel to titfiorflj- or #c-s-f; it is the taeci that is wanted. SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP TERS. A feud lias existed between Colonel Ar thur Stanley anil bis cousin. Judge Lamar Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond from the sky, found in a fallen meteor by an ancestor. Also, the succession to the Stanley earldom in England may come to an American. When a daughter is born to the colonel and the mother dies, the colonel buys u gypsy boy and substitutes him. Three years later the gypsy mother, having had no part in this bargain, steals the girl, being reared in secret. ii?d leaves her son undetected as the heir. The gyp- 1 my has obtained possession of the diamond from the sky, and a document with tlie | Stanley secret. When'Esther is grown a beautiful young girl, Hagar, now gypsy queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr. i Dee, the late Colonel Stanley's friend, adopts Esther. Arthur Stanley, son of llagur, falls In love with Esther, and so does his companion and cousin, Blair i Stanley, rightful male heir of Stanley. In! stealing the diamond Blair causes the ] death of the doctor and tries later to put I the blame on Arthur, who takes the gem. Arthur Stanley eludes his pursuers and ' Joins Hagar, who reveals his identity and upbraids him for his wild life. Needing money, he pawns the diamond in Rich- 1 mond. At a hull, at which an adventuress, I Viviun Marston, is the guest of honor, Ar- ' thur and Blair find the diamond on the ' Visitor. She lias borrowed it. JvUko Lovell, ilagar's gypsy guard,! .steals tbe diamond, and to avoid detection j 'flrops It Into a mull box. Arthur leaves ! Richmond and goes to the west. The dia- | vnonu parses into a mail bug, picked up ,by Quabba, oia.?,i grinder. Quabba's rflonVey steuls tl.C ci.jnond, Hagar take* Esther to Stiinle* hail. Tom Bl&ke, a detective of Richmond, | who lb hired by llngar, produces finger prints convicting Blair. Hagar propones silence to Mrs. Stanley as tlie price of 'Hagar's and Esther's being received in Fairfax society. Blair strikes down Hagar and steals the finger prints, leaving the gypsy demented. The diamond is found by a negro boy and Is later stolen from a Chinese den. Ilugar is again with Esther among tlie gypsies. Mannaduke Smylhe, lawyer, arrives to announce Arthur Is heir to tlie deceased Earl of Stanley. Beaming Arthur Is a fugitive he ^seck# Blair Jpstead.^ To wW yivU'n, Bh?ir steals the diamond, later tnarr>ing her and leaving for the west. Their train Is robbed, Vivian losing tlie diamond, which a slain train robber drops in the desert The $100,000 lie stole is found by Arthur, now known as John Howell, sheep herder 17U. .1 in'... * \ i:. ti... i. ^ vivimi ucsvi in man, icihiik nun no mum regain the diamond for her. Luke Dovell. driven from the camp after learning IlaKar'n secret, leaves to seek Blair. Hagar is under treatment and Esther is in Richmond society, protege of Mrs. Stanley, who suspects her real name, and of Mrs. Randolph. Abe Bloom, gambler, who knows Blair's guilt, covets the diamond and calls it the price of his secrecy. Blair, at Richmond, instigated by his mother, pays unwelcome court to Esther, Mrs. Stanley asserting Vivian had been married before. The diamond is picked up by an Indian woman. Dr. Lee, Arthur learns, died of heart disease. Becoming very rich he buys Stanley hall, sold at auction, through Blake, and also provides for Ilagar and has money left secretly In Esitiler's room. Duke Dovell buys the dlajmond from the squaw, but loses It In a fight on Santa Barbara bay, the gem sinking. Vivian, desiring aid to ensnare Arthur, sends for Blair. Esther and Quubba, nlso Blair, go to the California mines to seek Arthur. Smythe Is sent west by Blake. Do vol I rsn>tn th? m>u?li in uri,i..v% !. ..i i......i v ^ ?..w ninvil IVOllltri <lll'l 4my|h? ride. . Quabba catches a Huh with the diamond, but a pelican bear* It off. The coach vol I a down the mountain, but Bother and the lawyer eaeapo unhurt Meanwhile Quabba return*, and he and Ifiather elude l.uke and Blair. Vivian Maraton .1* rescued from drowning by John Powell, who fall* In love with her. Brnythe And* the diamond. Blair and Luke intercept A buck hoard bearing Ksther and Quabba aeeklng Powell. The driver Is nhot. Kstlier and Quabba eacaffe and are joined by Marmnduk*' Bmythe. who give* Mather the diamond to deliver to Arthur. Blair and Luke go to the yacht in Arthur'* absence and And ICetber with the diamond. To escape them ttfie jumps overboard. id om the Sky McCARDEL . McCARDEL ft Esther and <.}uabba escape while Blair and Luke battle. Powell leavos Los AnKeles and Esther Santa Harbaru. each headed for the mines. Blair meanwhile has Joined Vivian in Los Angeles. Durand. "king of diamonds," a crook known to Vivian, goes to a saloon near the mines in hope that he can learn the whereabouts of the diamond. There he meets Luke Lovell. Esther, unknowing the place's character, steps In. A ruffian seizes Iter, demanding a dance, and in doing so discloses the diamond. Arthur appears on the scene. Esther and he embrace only for a moment. The diamond Is lost In a melee. The roof caves In. Under It Is Arthur. CHAPTER XXXVII. Fire, Fury and Confusion. WMEIIE was tlie diamond from llie sky? It was not in the j grasp 0f Erank Durand. erst- ; while king of diamonds; it ! was not clasped in the tigress talons ' of Kansas Em. the dance hall fury; it was not in Esther's hands, as Qnabba. the ever watchful poor Italian, drew her Prom the maelstrom of the melee ere the roof haul fallen on (lie struggling mob in Pete's Pail hoc. It whs in the first outbreak of Kansas Kni's frenzied Indignation when, jitter she had read aloud the prayer in the old locket? a mother's prayer come I i so strangely to the lis lit after :ill the ? years?that the diamond, with its chain, had been knocked from the a dance hall amazon's hand after her a first screaming outburst in protecting ; the shrinking Kstlier. so strangely , thrust into this sin stained, sordid sat-' urnalia when she sought her love. Oth ers had gathered there, moved by the; i spirit of greed, swayed by the desire j lor the diamond Iroui ihe sky. tiers; i was a higher, brighter motive. Arthur, gasping and wild eyed at. sight of l ist her. the center of a strug- \ i gle for the diauiond from the sky. had < fouvrht i<> her side and had embraced ? , J p ' ' '^ ^ .[ %'f* t f -* V ! ' " \,:.; ' ' O- '-?v: " ' ? 1 . % Others Still Fought at One Another's Throats. her. Then like n mighty wave, the mass of stark mad and heaving humanity had broken upon them and torn them apart. Then it was that Arthur raged like a demon and struck out on all sides and knew no more in his madness, even when the wall gave way and t|?e roof fell upon his unconscious body. Eddied to the outsklrt of the combat. Quabba had plucked Esther from the storm of blows and had led her, dazed, to safety. When the riot had broken loose; Smytbe bad struck out smartly, bitting ; every skull in sight. Hut when the i surge of the crowd had borne against I the side wall and men and Women had turned like boasts to rend and tear each other the lawyer, taking advantage of being near the doorway, bad darted out into the night, which seem ed to promise safety. In the excitement and the struggle he had not noted the diamond had boeu hurled through the air when Luke Eoveil, struggling for it like the rest, had / struck tlie arm of Kifnsas Mm, loosen ing her grasp upon the chain of the locket as she held it high above the throng. Over the heads of the crowd it had flashed and fastened upon the deer horn, and so the lawyer had borne It from the scene of struggle unnoticed by any one in the struggling medley, not even by himself. Scarcely knowing what he did. the panic stricken lawyer darted Into ihe first haven of safety he encountered It was a barrel that Pete's bartender had converted Into a kennel for a stray puppy which had been given to htm that day. Those who had not been imprisoned . or crushed h,v the falling roof of the dance hall dragged themselves from the debris. Some ran wildly through , the muddy streets of the little town I i THE HOBBYHERA IHBjijnHrw K . .. ^S^|^^BlBj|jB^B^^BBB^BBI |^|^HB3yHnaH||HH|pHHH^^H^^ He Struck Luke a Mighty Blow. [ r.ving for help si ml calling "Fire!" i dvtiers plucked at the ruins wlUi put i iml bleeding hands, and otlivrs still ; fought desperately at one another's ; throats. Such * group as still fought, despite the death and disaster all around them, were Frank Durand. who had come m i hese wild regions for the diamond, to 1 see it and to lose it. and the bestial | I'eter HulT, the dance hall loan. The two fought madly, still with Luke Lo veil. The ipiick eye of Durand had ... ... (I... i.f .... i ..i i i . t-* Nl'i'JI lilt" IIIUll l.lllvl' ?lll ill"' I ill IVJI IISiiN Mill to tr;;in (lie diamond. Durand had not soon where the* diamond 11: i d fallen, hut inslinotivoly lie had torn through t lie little knot that fought tround him and had struck Luke a i in i.14 h t \* Mow bet ween, the eyes with ali Ids strength and skill, for Durand had boon a boxer in his earlier career. Hut Luke had shaken himself as a dot: might do and had closed in quickly on I Mirand. Luke was nearly a match for the two. hut finally they beat him to his knees and searched him near the barrel where the hiding lawyer lay. Then. 7 * i with curses of disappointment. Durand mid Huff rushed hack to the duller hall just as the roof fell, and Luke, staggering to his feet, made olT in the lyrkness. linn now in the belief thai j the devil himself dwelt in the diamond' from the sky. even though a mother's prayer had been all these years hidden behind it. The lawyer, peering cautiously from Ills hiding place, hears u clink and clatter against tin* side of the barrel into which lie has crept to hide. la the darkness, and on his hands and knees, he clutches the deer head closer, feels it to ascertain if it has been injured, mid his trembling hand closes upon the diamond. Tile roof has crushed, maimed and pinioned down a score of men and women who but a moment before miir ilorously sought one another's lives. "A gypsy woman boroft of reason in faraff Richmond." Home lie crushed to death's stillness beneath the wreckage* Of these there in one stalwart young man In auto costume. Ills face, blanched In death or uncousclousness, la cameo-like. It Is Arthur Stanley. A great timber is across Ills chest, and he is crushed and sorely shattered. "Are you hurt, dearie?" asks Kansas LDt 00NWAT, 810 Kui. turniug to Esther from the sickening sight of the wreckage and the 1 hideous cries which still rise loudly j behind them. | Esther is sick and faint. "I am not hurt." she said tremulously, "but where Is Arthur? * Has he escaped? Is he ; killed r } . "Was he your friend?'* asked Kansas j Em. "Why, that's the boss, Mr. John j Powell, the millionaire, who has just ; bought the mines around here, lie had just arrived when this broke loose. Is he your friend?" Esther could have said that the young j man known as John Powell was her | only friend in all the world, save the I poor Italian. Quabba. and a gypsy woman bereft of reason in farolT Richmond. Hut Esther said no word, but sped to the ruins and fought her way ; through several groups of men and women, who. coining to their senses, were beginning the work of rescue in the face of the Haines that were now bursting out in several places hi the wreckage. The crackling tire shed its light among the ruins and down in such in terstices as where Esther thrust herself in search of Arthur. Those who were pinned In the wreckage and were' j conscious of the added peril of lire j j screamed and begged for aid and , I succor. j There was no cry from the pinioned > man whom Esther sought and whom sht foM??d. As one dead he lay. half covered 11> the wreckage, but with face! unscaiTed and undisMgurod. Already; the red edges of lire wore creeping1 near to him. Esther grasped at his I shoulders, hut the task was beyond her strength until Quabba and their friend, the outcast Kansas Em, joined their efforts With hers. Together they drag-; god the unconscious man from the burning ruins of the dance hall. Men were arriving with stretchers from the i mine, and upon one of these Arthur! was placed, and then Esther, her strength ami resolution leaving her. feels a deadly numbness come swiftly over her. CHAPTER XXXVIII. To Be Near Her Love. /W :l lawless com V W U iiiuiin,?. ?itn.i i nrr liuu, un! ? <rti M'i'jK'i', i> imic ui its most law loss arbiters. I'm ho lias tho gambler's temperament. The do- | structiou ol' his gambling hall is the adverse turn of a oard to him. Tho ! diamond from tho sky, sine iMirandi has told him of it. now tills tho mind ?>f Totor III!IT. "Joint koener's luck" ho calls it. , "Kasy coino and easy no! In a gamble for a fortune, in u plav for a stake worth half a million. I lose a dump worth live thousand. '.Km odds were worth it oven to lose!" says Mr. Hull'. . Thou 1m turns to tho late insurgent In , mate of his ilea and says gruilly, "Well. ' lbn. you pulled a lino bone for your boss when you started this scrap over j your young lady friend there!" llere i'ote looked keenly into the.; white face of the fainting iether, l'ete was not altogether lo.-t to the higher humanities. "Why, she's only a kid." j lie said, "ami she's all in. Take her to your place and tix her up. We've sent for the doctor. We'll need the cor- , oner, too?and the undertaker!" lie "i am a doctor." said Duraml, who had been stooping over Arthur and thrusting aside severed of the rough i group who hud gathered around tlie stretcher. "There are other people to help besides this one." remarked I)uraiid to these. "Hustle; I'll take care of Mr. Powell." "You think he'll live'.'" asked llulT. "Are you really a doctor'/" "lie is badly injured internally," re-j plied I>uiand. "Several ribs are broken and one of his arms, lie should i be taken to a hospital, as 1 think an 1 operation is necessary. Yes, 1 aui u doctor. I have a Heidelberg degree to' prove it. but you must excuse me If 1 haven't it with me to clear up your} doubts." "Oil. don't he sore at me." retorted Mr. IIutT. "1 don't care whether you're , a boss doctor, a human doctor or no; doctor. Hut as Mr. Powell's death may mean the stopping of these works you use your own judgment as to whether we will try to take care of him here or got hmi 1 o Los Angeles. You hud bettor attend to iiiui, and I'll stick1 : around here and search everybody, 11 v; ing or desul. and dig in those ruins 1 when they're cool enough for that bin; stone you say is called the diamond from the sky. Don't worry about me. I'll be on the square." "Of course you'll be on the square," replied Durand testily. "How could you dispose of it without getting into j the penitentiary unless you handed it i over to ine if you find itV Don't worry! j about being square with me. Worry ; about me being square with you!" And thus, having thoroughly subjugated Deter IlulT, Durand ttimed toi minister to the unconscious Arthur! Hgaiu. It was no idle boast of Duraud's that' lie was a physician and the possessor or a uemeioerg uegrce. his hkiii iiiki been marked In his profession. mid had lie chosen to devote himself to it I>urand would have lieen famous both as a physician and a surgeon. Mixed in several scandal*, he had been forced to fly from Kew York, Paris and Vienna. But of recent years he had wholly abandoned the dealing In Illicit drug* for the more exciting and desperate profession of international gem crook. ; sensational success iu this line having I secured for him the pseudonym of "the king of diamonds.." Arthur was badly Injured, how badly Durand had surmised ut his flrst superficial examination. But Durand had also surmised that his patient's youth and strong constitution would; enable trim to stand a hurried Journey 1 to Los Angeles ere the reaction from shock set in. Theu, too, a daring I scheme was already formulating in < | k Durand Ministered to the Unconscious Arth ur. Durand's intud. Arthur, crushed and helpless?.loliu Powell. the millionaire. 1 as Dura ml knew him? was wholly at ' his mercy. Surely when John Powell ' recovered strength and consciousness ' common gratitude would impel him to retain the services of the physician who had saved his life l?y hastening with his shattered form from the wil derners to the care and convenience of the city ! DesUV'S this. Durand remembered fivku! siionkir.g of Ltlair Stanley ami ' lie strange regard and fondness the sow injured man had always held for ? Ids cousin, for Vivian had informed i luirand and her oilier former associ- I ate. De Yaux. that Arthur and I tin ir i were cousins, though slic had deemed i it best to keep the secret of Arthur he- ; intf other titan John Powell, as lie was i known in t he west. I Hastily. I nit skillfully, improvising tin i unihulnnec by the aid of the strehher ' and John Powell's bi.uli powered roadster and taking with hint a meelianie I A Secret Spring Was Touched In the Breast of Kansas Em. , to aid him in running and oaring for : the great car, Durnud departed from ( Mammoth with his still uuconscious patient swathed In blankets. When Esther had recovered herself the improvised automobile ambulance was gone. Esther knew nothing of Durand save what Peter Huff could tell her iu answer to her frantic inquiries. "lie's a doctor, kid. That's all I know," Mr. Huff had replied, "lie's a big doctor, too, and an old friend of your friend, Mr. Powell. At least, he's a friend of friends of his. You ought to be thankful. Doc Durand told me Mr. Powell wouldn't have a chance for his life unless lie was taken to a hos pltal at once and operated on." There were tears In Kansas Em's worldly wise eyes at Esther's sorrow and distress. "If you're not satisiled you go follow them." Em whispered. "Have you any money, pet?" "Yes. thank you." murmured Esther, "I liave quite enough money. 1 will have Qunbha here get our horses from the stable, and we will ride to the station and take the first train to Eos A * /A ti^rirn* ''You will think sometime** of me. won't you?" asked Kansas IOm huskily. "Hereof* the prayer from the locket. I>ld you know that It was In It?" "No," said Rather. "I don't thiuk any one knew It. There seemed to he a concealed secret spring that was touched." A secret spring was touched In the sluful breast of Kansas Km. "Your mother put It there when you were a baby." she murmured. "I knew it. 1 felt It There Is a faint perfume like lavender about It. A mother's prayer!" She sobbed as she took the paper from her bosom, where she had thrust it when the light had begun In the dance ii&.i? mil. "Even a Kluner like I am Is made the letter by It." continued Em. "And will run pray for me?" "Always/*' said Esther brokenly aa die took the crumpled paper* with lta faint, vague, old time perfume. Then Esther put her arms around the outeast older womau and kissed her In token of pity and gratitude. But the diamond from the sky? Of all the world Marmaduke Smythe la unmoved by Its powers for good or 111* Whether it be baleful to those who have no claim or right to It or whether it be truly a charm against harm for Stanleys of the blood means and mutters nothing to Marmaduke Smythe. lie feels it his duty to surrender It to the Stanley heir, but meunwhile it is a responsibility ho does not deem devolves upon binu He wffi bo rid of It ^ He halts by a signpost that reads'* "Twenty Miles to Mammoth." He mops his brow and thinks, and, truly. It's a long, long twenty miles that he has come, hearing with him by Us shawl strap handle the deer head that he bought ?t the auction at Stanley hall. Personally the doer head Is far more to Marmaduke Smythe than the* A diamond from the sky. w Some thirty feet from the road, in it 4 straight line with the signpost, is ai great live oak tree. hi its trunk si hole is hollowed. Smythe Idles the iliain.it.il I.. Al*i~ ? * 111 wini 111 mii.n ihmc Mini manes i cnrorul memorandum of the hi.ihiK place and nearby landmarks and Ids paced measurement (<> the road and signboard. Then lie pics ids way. His way loads hint to whore two -hihlrcn Toodlos and Polly?come toddling: d??wii t ho rnad with thoir dolls mil play I hiii^s. A puss of mill; would refresh him. Ssnythe thinks. The children iialionto their dnurynrd to the piunt hut kindly stranger, and there i Sinythe makes his wax and is replied with mill; and Inead and hotter and honey by the ranchers kindly wife, tile mot her of Toodlos and Polly, the little < hil.ireii. The * hildron pi down the road to play "house." as is their custom, beneath the live oak. Toodlos llnds the irleaminer hanhle She Is a pr! child. She knows it is a necklace, and with ries of api>t'oeiation ami delight, she <ci>:es it and lumps it around her dolly's tie k. immediately her little siser I'oliy demands ii. nay. even grasps it. A s.ap. a scream, and 'i'oodies jerks ixvay t!u_? luekhue and walks iudip mildly away, with 11?>; 11 lice doll and Iter treasure trove. v. ldh, .'ittle Polly tatters (low n the rnatl 10 run homo and loll inn in inn. * * * * At llio ruins of Ids dance hall Peter I lull' will lies tin' diners w ith a keen dance that never wavers. The dead that are hrnuuht from the eharreil lehris are nothing t?? Pelt r Unit', lie lias them star. lied, as lie had the 11 vIii.sjc and the wounded searched in Ids I ra nt le endea vors to lind the diamond. A little, tdtl. st|jiat hui.t workman iftiuses the suspicion id' Peter HnIT, for the little old workman hits furtivey picked up and secreted some shin-ing ohjeet. Forced to dlsjuotme. the workiuan shows a still warm silver ltdlar. With a Idtler curse of disa|saiimment and aimer. Pete smashes he little old uiu^er in the face and knocks him sprawiiim. The old fellow picks himself tip. "You think T Itatl the diaintmd that was lost last ni.uhl. ehV" lie asketl. "Wi,,l. I'll tell vou. since you've been so handy with vour lists. One of the hoys sa.vs he's <een that si ranker with the side whiskers running mil in that direction with t lie tllainond w hen the tight broke loose." There is such an nit' of sincerity thunt the fellow's words tlittt Peter Huff feels u Kit udder's "hunch." lie rushes from tin? work sit the promptings of tin* hunch sind command*?**!'** I he cheap. <>!? 1 automobile of a friend iind with his friends goes in pursuit of tin* fugitive stranger with the side whiskers. 80 remarkable a figure us Sinythe. not to mention the impedimenta of the doer's head, hsis left a blazed trail. Twenty-one 'miles from Mammoth Smythe is overtaken and held up at the pistol's point. The diamond is not on his person, but Pete and his pal tind tiie memorandum of its hiding place. Hack to the oak tree they bear the protesting Smythe, but*the diamond is gone again. Pete and his pal part from tlie lawyer with curses and return to Mammoth. They pass Toodles. aged four, crying from a bee sting. Then Toodles runs, crying, home to mother, as little Polly did before her. The diamond hus been cast aside and forgotten by Toodles. who had been engrossed with It as she crossed Hie bee yard, till, trespassing too near a swarming hive, she had been stung. The diamond, dropped by the scampering child in pain, lies 011 the alighting board of the beehive while the workers of the hive push out the drones and sting them to death against the bauble at the dnm*. way. In Los Angeles tbe newspapers spread stories of tbe dramatic tirst homecoming to his great mansion, shattered, insensible, more dead than alive* of John Powell, the young oil and mining magnate. The papers speak feelingly of the skill and untiring attention of tbe celebrated physician. Dr. Dorand, and of the cave and attention of friends and relatives of tbe injured man, including a favorite cousin, Blair Stanley of Virginia, who has recently arrived and will take complete charge of Mr. Powell's affairs, say the newspapers. Tbe papers also mention briefly that a pretty and agitated young woman called to inquire as to Mr. Powell's