The morning news., 1889-05-07
THE PUaCHAsB oFADIAMoND.


THE PUaCHAsE EOFADIAMOND.
A Globe Tr otters r Experience with a
CONSCIENTIOUS Man.
From Lstsu e Hours
1t was at Colombo that we met him. He
was the beau ideal of a rich young glo O.
trotter. We used to see him in the deep
verandas of t q Gale-face md Oriental
hotels, surrounded by the best gem dealers,
bargai ing q d bu ying at, for them, an ex-
hi aratiug rate. lie had bought rubies, be
had bought sapph, eS, the best pearls and
the finest catseyes to be obtained fo love or
money, and still his morey see ned abun-
dant. He was gentlemanlyf low, for all
that, and did not par ,de his wealth iuten-
uonally. Sto ,es had fascination for him.
PROBABLY some me Der of the sex that
CHI fly weir them had als), tn we know
OF. How they would Look out for his re-
turn! How tn ir eyes, and thsir finge S,
too, would 40 * brighter whel he came" !"
He I'd often said tlat be meant to look
out for really fine diamond, but natural
fou that the e gems are not ldtgenous,
o. even exiS ent, upon the spicy isle. Agr
or Delhi were the places. OF course there
was plac like London, but b, Aished to
p SIS IS a $40 le uIco ,tamIn lted by pawn
broke S fin o S. u iclvilZe1 and unchris-
tanned, with ut flaw, ID also withou
pedigree; a gem which had perna S
wastel its brightaes the virgin sparAle of
its many facets in the Lark less of some
native hoard until he caused it to be ad-
mired, worshi p ID, dspar lged, or cove cd
by the fashi Jnable wor d of Her Maies5v's
or Cove t Garden. We little thought he
would ever effect his purchase before he
l. ft Colombo.
The wer9 at this time in the roads no
fe YER Than five mail steamers, two of the
Mes geric and three of ths Peninsula and
Oriental Z M oany. Over seventy Fl s.
class passengers had to change steamers at
Colombo, and wait two days before re-
embarking for Austr llian ports, whittier
m )st of them were bou d. Dinner that
evening was a pretty sight. Seldom b I'd
we seen 50 many English complexo and
so many Parisial dresses gathered rou d
the small tables. or uch airy fl ounces and
pret y hair waving under the influence of
the punkahS Our gem setting friend WIS
dining at our table, and asking no d of
questl ms abou. u country life and the
planting enterprise.
After dinner ne propo' ed a game of bill
Iiards or pool. In the only room in which
play was not going on was a gentiema
whom we recognize as one Of the Au a.
lian pass n erS There being tn ee, he was
asked to joi in ops anne, to which he con-
L
could not help notici Z two things-hrst,
that he handled his cue il quite an nvia-
BILE m tnner and that he had upon he third
finger of his left ha the very finest
dia no ring had ever set eyes u. 7 g
st me seemed as large as nall nut and
the flashes of light it reflected from the gas
jets over the table were dazzling. The IT.
tention OF our frie i'd, it was easy to see, was
riveted upon his ring, whic his eyes IL
lOUyA1 round liaV,
passenger seemed very pleasant man, and
soon we all became more friendly.
What lovely ring that is you are
wearing Would you allow ne to see it f'
said our young friend, presently.
''Oh, with p easure; but am ashamed to
tell you it Is only PASTE" SAID Its owner,
slipping it off his fuger and allowing US
all 70 look az L..
II Is needl IS to say whose fingers soon
held whi his eyes seemed to reflect the
brilliaucy of the one.
''Nonse Use, ma ~ said he pleasantly, II
know something about dia londs, and don't
know when I've ssen such perfect one"
"Ah, that stone has dec iveL even Jew
elers y art fetal light. / only wlsn it we're
a real diamond, for it would be worth about
$500"
1T is worth every penny of it." said the
other enthu st.cally. How did YOU ome
by t, if it's not an impertinent lestion to
ask"
at was left me by my aunt" said the
owner. ''She knew it was only paste,
alt lOugh she al Ways wore it, and | was
very fond of the old lady, so wear it, too. E"
"Wiil you | t me see IN the mOrningp
said our friend, handing the ring b ok itn
lingering interest
Certainly. We will have a return
mntca, gentlemel, bef IRE tiff ;, if you are
agreeable, as / must be of to he steamer
now, to triHg some more of my kit ashore. I"
We all said go d night and par ed, each
one of us thtn6ing y good deai about the
beautiful ring. AT er breakfast the next
day, $ AID drove over from the cl lb
TO th' hotel, here we had promised to
"titin' with Jug &c Jlc)uda," as we
called him. He was there with a becy Of
naive 'tatnbies" around him, displaying
very inferior gems, wnich he refused t.
look at.
The Australi IN passenger SOON strolled up,
and aske my companion If ne was disposed
for a retut matcl a. billiards. These two
had zee each OF ,er before breakfast, and
young "Galco ida" ba bac >e his opinion
OF the diam d ring TO the extent Of offer
ing 1000 rupee for it. Du ing tue game
he reaewed Ais ofsr, but the other said ne
did not visa 10 sell the ri * at all, aud
especially as a cal diam nd, knowing well
that the stone was paste
win you lead me he ring, then and
allow me 10 show it to native jeweler
with whom ! have beel dealingi IL be
rec gnizes the stone as a diamond. too, /
will repeat my offer, and als) will give you
an ope caeck on the bank for the amount
before closing time thi evening"
Look here, gent ene > said he Austria
lian, "of c iurse III sell the stone for that,
II any one can Le so rash as 10 buy il at
that price; but you see, mine will he an
awkward )sit.on. l know the stone to be
paste, o | cannot and will not sell it as a
diamond. IL you. SIR turning 70 the
would-5e purchaser, will give me in
writing statement to the effect that you
buy the ring as paste, all well and good;
but ! warn you, honesty, you will find
tnat you are deceived in imagining this 10
be a dia noud.n
You x q ilcoldA took the ring 10 bis
natlye codnolssvur, who In a moment pro.