Continued from last week...

A faint glow, emanating from the corner of the room, pulsed in awful anticipation... and struck like the fangs of a viper!

With each unfortunate occurrence, it glowed more brightly, as though with laughter. Then, one night, while everyone in the house was in a deep sleep, a gloved hand gently snipped at certain alarm wires.

A window slid open, softly and smoothly, and the glow of the Blackmoor emerald silhouetted the stealthy figure. As quietly as he came in he left, and the emerald had acquired a new owner.

A sudden burst of rain and a rumble of thunder. A sharp crack of lightning illuminates the scene. A massive tree, viciously split, begins to fall... silence... total, soggy silence. The rain stops...

They found him the next day. "That tree crushed him like an eggshell," stated the policewoman as she gave the emerald back to Mr. Canes.

A few days later, there was a social ball, and Elise wore the Blackmoor emerald on a chain. Everyone loved it... including a press photographer.

Apprehensive and protective, Jacob glanced around nervoudly as the photographer posed Elise under the massive crystal chandelier, and then it happened!

One sharp snap of chain.

Jacob plunged forward in a low flat dive... cheating, by a whisper, the Blackmoor emerald of another victim.

The following day found the girl recuperating from her brush with death. Seven hundred miles at sea, Mr. Canes spoke, then chucked the emerald into the sea. Jacob was curious about why, but deep down, he knew.

Be careful, if the Blackmoor emerald falls into your hands! Throw it away!