“Somewhere there are three priceless rubies. I must find them!”
Florence sat up quite suddenly and stared at her.
“Three—three rubies!” she exclaimed. Not the words, but the manner in which they had been spoken, had startled her.
“Three large rubies set in a manner so unique as to make the whole affair well nigh priceless,” the lady cop went on quietly.
“You see,” she said, leaning toward Florence, “the thing is Oriental in its design and workmanship. In fact it came from Japan. They are clever, those little Japs. This bit of jewelry is very old. Perhaps it once graced an Empress’s olive brow, or was worn by a priest of some long lost religion.
“Yes,” she mused, “it is priceless; and these gamblers have it.”
Once more she paused to stare at the fire.
“Do you know,” she said at last, “that the finest impulses in life often lead to ruin? Take that one desire for change, for risking something we hold dear for some other thing that lies beyond us. If it is not properly directed, it may ruin us.
“No habit ever formed is so hard to break as the habit of gambling; not even the habit of excessive drinking. Go ask some man who has battled both habits after each has become his master. He will tell you.
“And yet, in our cities to-day, boys and girls, some of them in their early teens, are frequenting the worst type of gambling houses and risking all: money, jewels, their very honor, on the turn of a wheel, the flip of a card.