“This is Tuesday,” said Mr. Cohen, reflectively; “the expert to whom I wish to subject the stones is out of town, but will be here to-morrow evening; suppose you come in again on Thursday morning.”

“All right,” responded the miner, as he began to gather up his glittering pebbles, though there was a look of disappointment in his eyes.  “I’d ruther have got rid of ’em, fur they’re kind o’ ticklish things to be carrying about.  Wonder if I couldn’t leave ’em in your safe till Thursday?”

“Certainly, if you are willing to trust them with me,” said Mr. Cohen, looking rather surprised at the man’s confidence in him:  “still you would have to do so on your own responsibility.  I should not be willing to be held accountable for them in case of a robbery.”

“Wall, then, perhaps I’d better take them along,” the miner returned, as he tied the mouth of his leather pouch, and shoved it into one of his pockets.

Then drawing forth a plug of tobacco from another, he bit off a generous quid, remarking, as he did so: 

“I’ll be on hand Thursday mornin’, I reckon.  Good-day.”

The merchant politely returned his salutation, and watched him thoughtfully after he shut the door and went swaggering down the street, looking in at every window he passed, in regular country fashion.

A few moments after, the merchant took his hat and also went out.

A few hours later, Mr. Amos Palmer received the following dispatch: 

“Send expert and detective at once to examine suspicious stones.  EZRA COHEN.”

Ezra Cohen had for years had business relations with Amos Palmer, going to New York several times every twelve months to purchase diamonds and other jewels, for the St. Louis trade.

On his last visit thither Mr. Palmer had mentioned the bold robbery, which had resulted in his losing such valuable diamonds, and had described some of the most costly stones, saying, that possibly they might some time fall into his hands.

Mr. Cohen was not sure, but he was impressed that the two larger stones of the collection which the miner had brought to sell him, on that morning, resembled, in some points, the ones described by Mr. Palmer; and so he thought it worth while to have the matter proved, if possible, although he felt some compunctions regarding his suspicions, because the miner had appeared so frank and ingenuous.

If he had only left the stones with him as he had proposed doing, the matter of testing them could have been attended to during his absence.  He hoped that he had not acted too hastily in telegraphing to Mr. Palmer; but he had done as his best judgment had prompted, and could only await the result with patience.

It was with no little nervousness, however, that he awaited Thursday morning, especially after receiving a reply to his message to the effect that “Tom Rider, the detective, and a diamond expert, would arrive on an early train of that day.”