A Prince of Swindlers by Guy Boothby Page A

five lacs to pay you for the waiting.”
    â€œThen I will be patient. Good-bye.”
    â€œGood-bye, little friend,” he said. And then, as if he thought he had not said enough, he added: “Think sometimes of Simon Carne.”
    She promised, with many pretty speeches, to do so, after which he left the room and went downstairs. As he reached the bottom step he heard a cough in the dark above him and looked up. He could just distinguish Liz leaning over the rail. Then something dropped and rattled upon the wooden steps behind him. He picked it up to find that it was an antique ring set with rubies.
    â€œWear it that it may bring thee luck,” she cried, and then disappeared again.
    He put the present on his finger and went out into the dark square.
    â€œThe money is found,” he said, as he looked up at the starlit heavens. “Hiram Singh and Wajib Baksh are to be discovered before noon to-morrow. His Excellency the Viceroy and his amiable lady have promised to stand sponsors for me in London society. If with these advantages I don’t succeed, well, all I can say is, I don’t deserve to. Now where is my Babuji?”
    Almost at the same instant a figure appeared from the shadow of the building and approached him.
    â€œIf the Sahib will permit me, I will guide him by a short road to his hotel.”
    â€œLead on then. I am tired, and it is time I was in bed.” Then to himself he added: “I must sleep to-night, for to-morrow there are great things toward.”

CHAPTER 1
THE DUCHESS OF WILTSHIRE’S DIAMONDS
    To the reflective mind the rapidity with which the inhabitants of the world’s greatest city seize upon a new name or idea, and familiarise themselves with it, can scarcely prove otherwise than astonishing. As an illustration of my meaning let me take the case of Klimo—the now famous private detective, who has won for himself the right to be considered as great as Lecocq, or even the late lamented Sherlock Holmes.
    Up to a certain morning London had never even heard his name, nor had it the remotest notion as to who or what he might be. It was as sublimely ignorant and careless on the subject as the inhabitants of Kamtchatka or Peru. Within twenty-four hours, however, the whole aspect of the case was changed. The man, woman, or child who had not seen his posters, or heard his name, was counted an ignoramus unworthy of intercourse with human beings.
    Princes became familiar with it as their trains bore them to Windsor to luncheon with the Queen; the nobility noticed and commented upon it as they drove about the town; merchants, and business men generally, read it as they made their ways by omnibus or underground, to their various shops and counting-houses; street boys called each other by it as a nickname; music hall artistes introduced it into their patter, while it was even rumoured that the Stock Exchange itself had paused in the full flood tide of business to manufacture a riddle on the subject.
    That Klimo made his profession pay him well was certain, first from the fact that his advertisements must have cost a good round sum, and, second, because he had taken a mansion in Belverton Street, Park Lane, next door to Porchester House, where, to the dismay of that aristocratic neighbourhood, he advertised that he was prepared to receive and be consulted by his clients. The invitation was responded to with alacrity, and from that day forward, between the hours of twelve and two, the pavement upon the north side of the street was lined with carriages, every one containing some person desirous of testing the great man’s skill.
    I must here explain that I have narrated all this in order to show the state of affairs existing in Belverton Street and Park Lane when Simon Carne arrived, or was supposed to arrive, in England. If my memory serves me correctly, it was on Wednesday, the 3 rd of May, that the Earl of Amberley drove to Victoria to meet and welcome the man