



Produced by Al Haines.





                               *A PRINCE*

                                  *OF*

                              *SWINDLERS*


                                   BY

                              GUY BOOTHBY



                            ARTHUR WESTBROOK
                                COMPANY
                       CLEVELAND, OHIO, U. S. A.




                  Copyright, 1907, by Bainbridge Cayll




                              *CONTENTS.*


                               CHAPTER I.

A Criminal in Disguise


                              CHAPTER II.

The Den of Iniquity


                              CHAPTER III.

The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds


                              CHAPTER IV.

How Simon Carne Won the Derby


                               CHAPTER V.

A Service to the State


                              CHAPTER VI.

A Visit in the Night


                              CHAPTER VII.

The Man of Many Crimes


                             CHAPTER VIII.

An Imperial Finale




                        *A PRINCE OF SWINDLERS*



                              *CHAPTER I.*

                       *A CRIMINAL IN DISGUISE.*


After no small amount of deliberation, I have come to the conclusion
that it is only fit and proper I should set myself right with the world
in the matter of the now famous 18--swindles.  For, though I have never
been openly accused of complicity in those miserable affairs, yet I
cannot rid myself of the remembrance that it was I who introduced the
man who perpetrated them to London society, and that in more than one
instance I acted, innocently enough, Heaven knows, as his _Deus ex
machina_, in bringing about the very results he was so anxious to
achieve.  I will first allude, in a few words, to the year in which the
crimes took place, and then proceed to describe the events that led to
my receiving the confession which has so strangely and unexpectedly come
into my hands.

Whatever else may be said on the subject, one thing at least is
certain--it will be many years before London forgets that season of
festivity.  The joyous occasion which made half the sovereigns of Europe
our guests for weeks on end, kept foreign princes among us until their
faces became as familiar to us as those of our own aristocracy, rendered
the houses in our fashionable quarters unobtainable for love or money,
filled our hotels to repletion, and produced daily pageants the like of
which few of us have ever seen or imagined, can hardly fail to go down
to posterity as one of the most notable in English history. Small
wonder, therefore, that the wealth, then located in our great
metropolis, should have attracted swindlers from all parts of the globe.

That it should have fallen to the lot of one who has always prided
himself on steering clear of undesirable acquaintances, to introduce to
his friends one of the most notorious adventurers our capital has ever
seen, seems like the irony of fate.  Perhaps, however, if I begin by
showing how cleverly our meeting was contrived, those who would
otherwise feel inclined to censure me, will pause before passing
judgment, and will ask themselves whether they would not have walked
into the snare as unsuspectedly as I did.

It was during the last year of my term of office as Viceroy, and while I
was paying a visit to the Governor of Bombay, that I decided upon making
a tour of the Northern Provinces, beginning with Peshawur, and winding
up with the Maharajah of Malar-Kadir. As the latter potentate is so well
known, I need not describe him.  His forcible personality, his
enlightened rule, and the progress his state has made within the last
ten years, are well known to every student of the history of our
magnificent Indian Empire.

My stay with him was a pleasant finish to an otherwise monotonous
business, for his hospitality has a world-wide reputation.  When I
arrived he placed his palace, his servants, and his stables at my
disposal to use just as I pleased.  My time was practically my own.  I
could be as solitary as a hermit if I so desired; on the other hand, I
had but to give the order, and five hundred men would cater for my
amusement. It seems therefore the more unfortunate that to this pleasant
arrangement I should have to attribute the calamities which it is the
purpose of this series of stories to narrate.

On the third morning of my stay I woke early. When I had examined my
watch I discovered that it wanted an hour of daylight, and, not feeling
inclined to go to sleep again, I wondered how I should employ my time
until my servant should bring me my _chota hazri_, or early breakfast.
On proceeding to my window I found a perfect morning, the stars still
shining, though in the east they were paling before the approach of
dawn.  It was difficult to realize that in a few hours the earth which
now looked so cool and wholesome would be lying, burnt up and quivering,
beneath the blazing Indian sun.

I stood and watched the picture presented to me for some minutes, until
an overwhelming desire came over me to order a horse and go for a long
ride before the sun should make his appearance above the jungle trees.
The temptation was more than I could resist, so I crossed the room and,
opening the door, woke my servant, who was sleeping in the ante-chamber.
Having bidden him find a groom and have a horse saddled for me, without
rousing the household, I returned and commenced my toilet.  Then,
descending by a private staircase to the great courtyard, I mounted the
animal I found awaiting me there, and set off.

Leaving the city behind me I made my way over the new bridge with which
His Highness has spanned the river, and, crossing the plain, headed
towards the jungle, that rises like a green wall upon the other side.
My horse was a _waler_ of exceptional excellence, as every one who knows
the Maharajah's stable will readily understand, and I was just in the
humor for a ride.  But the coolness was not destined to last long, for
by the time I had left the second village behind me, the stars had given
place to the faint grey light of dawn.  A soft, breeze stirred the palms
and rustled the long grass, but its freshness was deceptive; the sun
would be up almost before I could look round, and then nothing could
save us from a scorching day.

After I had been riding for nearly an hour it struck me that, if I
wished to be back in time for breakfast, I had better think of
returning.  At the time I was standing in the center of a small plain,
surrounded by jungle.  Behind me was the path I had followed to reach
the place; in front, and to the right and left, others leading whither I
could not tell.  Having no desire to return by the road I had come, I
touched up my horse and cantered off in an easterly direction, feeling
certain that even if I had to make a divergence, I should reach the city
without very much trouble.

By the time I had put three miles or so behind me the heat had become
stifling, the path being completely shut in on either side by the
densest jungle I have ever known.  For all I could see to the contrary,
I might have been a hundred miles from any habitation.

Imagine my astonishment, therefore, when, on turning a corner of the
track, I suddenly left the jungle behind me, and found myself standing
on the top of a stupendous cliff, looking down upon a lake of blue
water.  In the center of this lake was an island, and on the island a
house.  At the distance I was from it the latter appeared to be built of
white marble, as indeed I afterward found to be the case.  Anything,
however, more lovely than the effect produced by the blue water, the
white building, and the jungle-clad hills upon the other side, can
scarcely be imagined. I stood and gazed at it in delighted amazement.
Of all the beautiful places I had hitherto seen in India this, I could
honestly say, was entitled to rank first. But how it was to benefit me
in my present situation I could not for the life of me understand.

Ten minutes later I had discovered a guide, and also a path down the
cliff to the shore, where, I was assured, a boat and a man could be
obtained to transport me to the palace.  I therefore bade my informant
precede me, and after some minutes' anxious scrambling my horse and I
reached the water's edge.

Once there, the boatman was soon brought to light, and, when I had
resigned my horse to the care of my guide, I was rowed across to the
mysterious residence in question.

On reaching it we drew up at some