Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1867-03-05

| $3.50 s w fssA ~ ssAAN
selected 1t from hundred others
equally brilliant and valuable
The duke held the ring to the light,
then shaded 1t with his hand, and
put it to all the tests usually en-.
ployed by connoisseurs.
my opinion is still unchanged,
sir." said the duke, ''notwithstand-
ing all you have told me, and l am
prepared to lay any wager you
please that ! am right. This dia-
mond is of great value"
monsieur" replied M. Placquet,
with deprecatory shrug. Il am
only third.rate actor at the Varie-
ties, and cannot pay wagers if / lose
them; but | will justify what have
told you You are stranger to me.
Ny ring, you say, is Of great value.
Take it away, and submit it to
other judgments. and when you have
found that my ten-franc ring is only
glass or paste, return it to me to-
morrow at this hour, for tho sake of
my little Justine"
M. Placquet considered he had de-
livsred first-rate exit speech; 80,
leaving the ring with the duke, be
made a capital bow, and withdrew
to an imaginary round Of applause.
The duke was right in his judg.
ment. Lewis Emanuels, the diamond
dealer of Hamburg, CHANGED to be at
b B, and he pronounced
the stone to be worth ten thousand
francs, and cheap at the money. NJ.
Placquet and the duke were equally
punctual. The poor actor turned
pale when the duke told him the re-
suit Of his inquiry, and offered to be.
come the purchaser Of the ring at the
price set upon it by the Hamburg
dealer
You IRE very good, monsieur,
very" said M. Placquet, "and will,
perhaps, form bad opinion Of my
intellect if hesitate to accept your
liberal offer, and for the reason / am
about to give. l told you the ring
was the gift Of my .tiancee Justine.
You do not know her--how should
you? She is the soul of sentiment
and affection, and she might blame
me did part with her gage d'amour
without her consent. II you will
allow me to write to her in Paris,
and await her answer, should she
consent, the ring is yours. In the
meantime pray take charge of it, and
if possible, confirm your Judgment,
for I cannot believe in my gootbI
fortune"
The duke refused, then hesitated,
and at last consented to become the
custodian of the ring, after giving
NJ. Placqnet an acknowledgment in
writing.
When M. Placquet saw the dukes
signature, the poor fellow was over
whelmed at the honor he had re-
ceived in his recent association with
80 great parsonage, and he uttered
a profusion of apologies for the free
dom he had used in the intercourse.
The duke dismissed him very gra-
ciously, and M. Placquet proceeded |
to write to his distant and much
loved Justine.
In few days NJ. Placquet re-
ceived an answer from Justine, not
by post, but through the agency of
that young lady's venerable grand
papa, and who had journeyed ex-
pressly from Paris to assure Auguste
I'M. Placquet that he could do as he
pleased for their mutual advantage.
A meeting was arranged, and the
duke and M. Placquet were alone.
Five hundred golden louis jingled in
the pocket Of M. Placquet, in ex-
change for poor little Justine's ten
franc purchase.
"Here is the little box they gave
me with it" said M. Placquet, taking
the ring from the table, and pressing
it fondly, very fondly, to his lips,
and then placing it in the little
casket, which he returned open to
the duke.
The duke closed it, and put it into
his pocket. NJ. Placquet was evil
IDENTIFY much moved by his good
fortune, and the duke, observing it,
very soon released him from his
presence.
The same night M. Placquet and
the venerable grandpapa of the poor
little Justine left DID,. The
next morning the duke of - in
vited the Princess of A., the Countess
of B., and the margrave of G. to in
spect his new purchase. When it