Page:Weird Tales Volume 38 Number 01 (1944-09).djvu/26

 he would have preferred him to show extreme anger.

At last he finished eating. The last drop of coffee had been consumed. He put down his cup and gazed questioningly at the face of Chang Kien. But Chang was unperturbed. He continued reading:

Between the hedges of two gardens Floating, swaying, floating, A willow."

Ives Cranston could stand the silence no longer.

"Would I be presuming," he asked coldly, "if I asked how I came to be here?"

Chang Kien laid aside his book. He smiled. "As to that," he said, "would I be presuming if I asked how the Gobi Diamond came to be in the inner pocket of your coat? We will answer questions in chronological order. Since the diamond disappeared prior to your entrance into the room, I do not think I am at fault in requesting some slight explanation."

Ives Cranston seemed confused. What answer could he give? It was bold-faced robbery and he had been caught. There was nothing to say and so he said nothing.

"You are guilty of sundry crimes," mused Chang Kien. "To enter unlawfully the home of a man with whom you have shaken hands in friendship is a grievous thing."

"What are you going to do?" asked Cranston defiantly.

"I scarcely know," replied Chang Kien. "Shall I ring for more coffee or perhaps you would prefer a cigarette? It has always seemed to me that the world would progress if wars could be fought in gentlemanly fashion."

"I want nothing," snapped Cranston.

"That is the strangest request I have ever had made to me," drawled Chang Kien. "Usually my acquaintances desire all sorts of favors and expensive extravagances. I have often thought that a man must indeed be fortunate to be able to afford many friends. Personally I prefer enemies. They are less expensive and far more interesting and diverting. So much for preliminaries. Now as to the matter in hand. There are several roads down which I might proceed. You will perhaps pardon my bluntness but you have robbed my house. You have taken from me a rare possession—the Gobi Diamond. Besides which you have given one more jolt to my faith in human nature. I could have you arrested."

"Nothing of the sort," declared Cranston. "While it is true I am here in this room you cannot prove that I have robbed you of anything. What proof is there that I took the Gobi Diamond? It would be your word against mine. I am a citizen, a respected member of society."

"Being a member of society can scarcely be taken as a recommendation," said Chang Kien. "As to proof, I saw you take the diamond from the safe. So did the faithful, honest Shung Kung. The little old man with whom you rode about the city last evening is a famous and shrewd detective. He brought you to this house. He saw the Gobi Diamond in your pocket. He knew that it belonged to me, for it was not the first time he had seen it. I assure you I am violating no trust when I say that the old gentleman was employed to guard the diamond. Who shall find fault with him simply because his methods of working are slightly different to the established? I do not wish to spoil your day. The sun is far too beautiful, the air too fresh. There is poetry in the air. This morning I do believe a lark was singing in my garden. Yet it seems to me the evidence against you is very strong. I have no doubt that you are well thought of in Pittsburgh."

"Who said I came from Pittsburgh?" snapped Cranston.

"Pardon me if I presume," was the reply. "I know you stated you were from Chicago. However a gentleman from Chicago as a rule does not have his clothes made in Pittsburgh. Your hat too has a Pittsburgh label. However it is of no consequence. It would be quite possible, I imagine, for a man to be a gentleman in either city. In my own country, I am respected. I trust I show no conceit when I state that my fame has spread throughout the Gobi Desert. In my own country I am a magistrate. Countless are the trials at which I have officiated. I rather pride myself on my fairness. Justice to me is a divine thing. I am rather vain and for that reason I believe I will settle the present