"Remove his Excellency," said Holes, "and let him forthwith expiate his crimes upon the scaffold."
"But," I ventured to interpose, "where is the diamond? Unless you restore that——"
"Potson," whispered Holes, almost fiercely, "do not be a fool."
As he said this, the door once again opened, and the Emperor-King entered the room, bearing on his head the turquoise crown, in the centre of which sparkled the great Samovar, "the moon of brilliancy," as the Hungarian poets love to call it. The Emperor approached the marvellous detective. "Pardon me," he said, "for troubling you. I have just found the missing stone under my pillow."
"Where," said Holes, "I was about to tell your Majesty that you would find it."
"Thank you," said his Majesty, "for restoring to me a valued possession and ridding me of a knave about whom I have long had my suspicions." The conclusion of this speech was greeted with loud "Eljens," the Hungarian national shout, in the midst of which we took our leave. That is the true story of how the peace of Europe was preserved by my wonderful friend.
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Transcriber's Note:
Sundry damaged or missing punctuation has been repaired.
The correction listed below is also indicated in the text by a dashed line at the appropriate place: Move the mouse over the word, and the original text appears. Page 165: 'then' corrected to 'than'. "But better a miss, or a magpie or so, Than that bad, bad form which "Sassiety" shames." |