Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-12-07
this evening in our tent beyond the

OF the 1lgrlS, and there he Suppee for.
the last time. Schafras was always
Supplied with fatal poison, some of
which they mixed in the Afghan's
food. When he was dead they threw
his body into the Tigris, saying:
''Go hence, fool, and be company for
the Jew. Thus we destroy all knowl-
edge ofthe precious stones"
Then they struck their tent, noun
ted their camels, and hastened to SOL
itaTV spot in order to examine and di-
vide their treasures They had no
trouble Hfth the moneys. Not so, how;
ever, With flie Jewels, for the iarge
diamond aiene was Of greater vaiue
thah all the rest. Each one wanted it
for his share. Their dispute seemed
likely TO lead to serious alteration,
when the eldest brother made the fol-
lowing proPoSal:p u 81 rf III
1 s'By rights, Che large diamond sliosm
be mfhe,n p saidlhey '4oriit ~asl rwtIo
recognized the Afghan. But for me
You would not have found him in Bag
dad. In order, sAeWeyeFs that there
may be harmOnX a;uons the sons of
my mother, we ii!e9ntena no longer,
but leave the matter % the decision of
the Prophet.z-Hs 5fr1w morning
each one shall Aafrate the dream he
has Tonight, and he who eaE adduce
the clearest proof OF the favor of the
Prophet shall have 2tisa Moon of the
Mountains Tbs VIE swear by the
boards of our fatherD u
The.younger brothsFs were content
with this proposif ION, for each one
lthonght he could <sirpass Ehe others in
Finiagining,a "A dream that You'd appear
to cnmeT from the Prophet. But the
teldeSt brother mixed some Of the pois-
OH he always carried about his person
| IL, the evening meal of the other two,
and saw them die with fiendish de-
Hight.
He now gathered together all his
treasures, mounted his camel, and rode
away. The other camels he left to
their fate, and thes bodies, of his muir
aered brothers to the vultures. His
plan was to leave the country as speed
L liz as possible, and to make his way to
some European court, where he could
dispose OF the "Moon of the Noun
tains" for q high pricr. On the road he
sold his camel, dressed himself as a
beggaF, and so, after many adventures
and great fatigue, he reached ConStan-
tinople,l where he took passage in a
Dutch ship for Amsterdam. Here,
feeling himself safe, he no longer made
taay secret of his possessions, but, Civ
ing Himself out to be a JeweleT, he Of
fered his most valuable stones for sale
to the Ambassadors of the principal
European courts.
Es'The "Moon of the Mountains" and
the eEye of Allah" were not wholly
unknown in Europe. They had for
nfany years been IN the possession of the
royal family of Persia, ;lne it was said
that after the assassination of Nadir
;Schah they, together with other pre-
ftious stones, were stolen by common
ls0idiers, who were ignorant of their.
value. 1t-Was, therefor, only necessary
for Schafras to statewhat he had to ex-
Ecite the interest of the amateurs.
But for long time there was no one
who seemedinciined to enter into nego-
iations with him for the purchase of
the mFge diamond and the wonderful
sapphire. As, however, the Moslem-
was well supplied with money, and
had, besides, a number of small stones
that were easily available, he waited
patiently, feeling certain that sooner or,
later customer would present HIM
self. m i.
The first serious inquiry after the
price of the "Moon OF the Mountains"
came from Catharine III. of Russia. In
st. Petersburg, where they were always
well informed with regard to what
transpired at the Persian court, they
were most competent to judge of the
real value Of the stone.
Z, The robber and murderer demanded
500, 900 rubles, life annuity of 10000
trubles, and a patent of nobility.
Catharine II. ordered one her minis
tere to invite the pretended diamond
merchant to- St. Petersburg, that the
court Jeweler might examine the dia-
mond, and estimate its value.
The minister ordered the cOurt-jew-
eler to hold out to the Armenian the
hope that the Empress would accept
his proposal, and in the mean time to
lead him into all sorts of excesses and
expenditures. "a 49,
Scllafras went to st. Petersburg, and
soon fell into the trap that had been
set for him. a.Soon all his ready mon
| ey was gone, and, as he had credit
eVerywhere-it being known that he
| had business with the court-it was not
long before he was Overhead and
ears" in debt. This was what the
Minister wanted. By the Russian law
fany foreigner may be prevented from
leaving the country so long as he is in
debt. The supposition was that the
/ fArmenian would at last be compelled
to dispose of his diamond for whatever
price he could get for it.
'sTell him that Her Majesty has de-
cided not to- aecede 10 oshis exorbitant
tJarnoraflc nd Xbon If ho r,oFrct coll NM
/ tend thatyou will buy it on your ac-
count, and offer him one-quartef of
what the stone is worth" Such were
| the instructions of the Minister to the
Ieourt jeweler-
lieWeler opened Schafras' eyes. "GOd
is. good and Mahomet is his prophet"
| he narmured. These Christian dogs
| wan to cheat nae out of that for which
| I have periled my soul. The fools
have got me into debt, and think now
Ishall be compelled to take any price
ithey choose to offer me; but they shall
see that a follower of the Prophet is
match for this whole nation of rascals."
Schafras now very adroitly encour-
aged the belief that he would soon be
compelled to part with the diamond
for the price offered him, while he Sc
cretly disposed of a portion of his
smallerjewels, paid his debt, and left
the country on board an English yes
sci. .EggtE nEEl
When they came to look for the Mos
lem he was nowhere to be found,
which was very embarrassing for the
Minister, as Catharine was greatly in
censed at the loss of the stone, and de-
manded that it should be obtained,
cost what it might sF
For several years every effort of the
Russian court to find Schafras proved
futile, but finally they succeeded in
tracking him to Smyrna. They again
| invited him to ST. PETERSBURG and