The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-10-01

wod dropped by Mr.. Franklin, when the tw'
were alone, one day, after dinner, revealed tha
he had been charged by his father with birth
day present to be taken to Miss Rachel. Ont
thing led to another and II ended In the lawye,
mentioning what the present really was, anc
how the friendly connection between the LAD
Colonel and Mr.. Blake, Senior, hsd taken IL
rise. The facts here are really 80 extraordinary
that doubt II I can trust my own language e
do Justice to them. prefer trying to repor'
Mr.. Franklin's discoveries, as nearly as may
be, In Mr.. Franklin's own wor,ls.
"You remember the time, Betteredge," h
said, "wben my father was trying to prove hh
title to that unlucky Dukcdomt Well! that VA
also the time when my uncle Herncastle returned
from India. My father discovered that his broth.
e.-in-law was in possession Of certain paper
which were likely to be Of service to him In hi
lawsuit"
'He called on the Colonel, on pretense Of vel
coming him back to England. The Colonel
was not to be deluded in that way. you want
something he said. COR you would never have
compromised your reputation by calling on me.
Ny father saw the one chance for him was 70
show his hand he admitted, at once, that be
wanted the papers. The Colonel asked for
day to consider his answer. His answer came
in the shape Of a most extraordinary letter.
which my friend the lawyer showed me. The
Colonel began by saying that he wanted some
thing Of my father, and that he begged to pro
pose an exchange Of friendly services between
them. The fortune Of war (thst was the ex-
preston he used) had placed him in possession
Of one Of the largest Diamonds in the world
and he had reason to believe that neither he nor
his precious jewel was safe In any house, In any
quarter Of the globe, which they occupied togeth-
er. Under these alarming circumstances he
had determined to place his Diamond In the
keeping Of another person. That person was
not expected to run any risk. He might do
posit the precious stone in any place especially
guarded and set apart-like bankers or jew
eler's strong-room-for the safe custody Of val
uables Of high price. His main personal re
sponsibity in the matter was to be Of the passive
kind. lie was to undertake-either by himself,
or trustworthy rcprescntativc-to receive at q
pre-arnrged address, on certain pre-arranged
days in every year, note from the Colonel,
simply stating the fact that he was q living man
at that date. In the event Of the date passing
over without the note being received, the Colo
nel's silence might be taken as q sure token OF
the Colonel's death by murder. In that case,
and In no other, certain sealed instructions re-
latng TO the disposal Of the Diamond, and de-
pVsitcl with It, were to be opened, and followed
implicitly. lfmy father chose TO accept this
strange charge, the Colonel's papers were at his
disposal In return. That was the letter."
'.what did your father do, Sir," asked.
"Dol" says Mr.. Franklin. an tell you
what he did. He brought the invaluable facul-
ty called common-sense to bear on the Colonies o
letter. The whole thing, he declared, was SIM
ply absurd. Somewhere In his Indian wander
ings the Colonel had picked up with some
wretched crystal which he took for diamond.
As for the danger Of his being murdered, and
the precautions devised to preserve his life and
his piece of crystal, this was the nineteenth cen.
tury, and any man in his senses had only to sp-
ply to the police. The Colonel had been no
torious opium-eater for years past and. II the
only way Of getting at the valuable papers be
possessed was by accepting p matter OF opium
as matter Of fact, my father was quite willing
to take the ridiculous responsibility impopsd
upon htm-all the moro readily that II involved
no trouble to himself The diamond and thc
sealed Instructions went intohis bankers str1$ss
room, and the Colonel's letters, periodically re-
porting him living man, were received and
opened by the lawyer. as my fathers represen-
tativc. No sensible person, in a similar posi-
ton, could have viewed the matter In any other
way. Nothing in this world, Bettercdgc, is
probable unless il appeals to our own trumpery
experience and we only believe in romance
when we see It in newspaper"
II was plain to me from this, that Mr.. Frank
lin thought his fathers notion about the Colo
mel hasty and wrong.
"What is your own private opinion about the
matter, Sir 7" I asked.
Lets finish the story of the Colonel first, I"
says Mr.. Franklin. "rherc is curious want
Of system, Betteredge, in the English mind ;
and your question, my old friend, is an instance
Of 1t. When VIC are not occupied In making
we are (mentally speaking) the
most slovenly people In the universe"
$50 much," thought to myself, "for for
eign education /! He has learned that way of
gird'ng at us In France, suppose"
Mr.. Franklin took up the lost thread, and
went OH.
"My father" he said, "got the papers he
wanted, and never saw his brother-in-law again
from that time. Year after year, on the prc-ar-
ranged days, the pre-arranged letter came from
the Colonel, and was opened by the lawyer. l
have seen the letters. in heap, all Of them
written in the same business-like form Of words:
Sir,-This Is to certify that am still living
man. Let the Diamond be. John Herncastle.
That was all he ever wrote, and that came
regularly TO the day until some six or eight
months since, when the form Of the letter varied
for the first time. II ran now /: 'Sir,-Thcy tell
me am dying. Come to me, and help me to
make my will" The lawyer went, and found
him, in the little suburban villa, surrounded by
its own grounds, in which he had lived alone
ever since he had LEFT India. He had dogs, cats
and birds to keep him company but no HUI
man being near him, except the person who
came daily to do the housework, and the doctor
at the bedside. The will was very simple
matter. The Col. had dissipated the greater
part OF his fortune In his chemical investiga-
tons. His will began and ended In three
clauses, which he dictated from his bed, In per-
feet possession Of his faculties. The first clause
provided for the safe keeping and support Of his
animals. The second founded a professorship Of
experimental chemistry at northern UNIVERSE
ty. The third bequeathed the Moonstone rs
birthday present to his niece, on condition that
my father would act as executor. My father at
FIRST refused to act. On second thoughts, how
ever, he gave way, partly because he was as
sured that the cxecutorship would involve him
in no trouble partly because the lawyer sug.
gested, in Rachel's interest, that the Diamond
might be worth something, after all"
"Did the Colonel give any reason, Sir" in
quired. "wby he LEFT the Diamond to Miss Ra-
chel 2"
"TIe not only gave the rcsson-hc had the
in his will" said Me. Franklin.
''I have got an extract, which you shall see
Don't be ovenly-minded, Better.
edge One thing at time. You have heard
about the Colonel's will now YOU must hear
what happened amer the Colonel's death. II
was formally necessary to have the Diamond va
lued, before the Win could be provei. All the
jewellers consulted, at once confirmed the Coll
onel's assertion that he possessed one Of the
largest diamonds In the world. The question
Of accurately valuing II presenting some serious
difficulties. Its sire made It a phenomenon in
the diamond market /; its color placed Il In q
category by itself; and, to add to these elements
Of uncertainty, there was defect, in the shape
Of flaw, in the very heart Of q stone. Even
with this last serious drawback. however, the
lowest Of the various estimates given was twen-