San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-06-06

destruction.
Be all that as it may, Harry Trent
dealt in diamonds, and built fame and
fortune from them. In comparatively
short time he became the best known
and wealthiest merchant in the trade.
No one was surer judge of their purity
and value; diamonds of unequaled purity
and splendor seemed to crystalline be-
meath his fingers. He knew the history
and owners of all the great gems of the
world, and stones were believed to pass
through his hands equal in quality to
any extant. Withal, like all true dia-
mond merchants, he was as silent as the
grave. No one could tell with certainty
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what his transactions We're or who were
his chief clients. Therefore, on the
principle of omne ignotum pro magnifco,
fabulous reports were circulated about
him. He had bought and sold the
jewels of empires He had weighed in
his balances the crowns of the sovereigns
of Europe. He had bargained with the
shah and the sultan. In his books might
be found the names of every millionaireo of
contemporary times. Half the diaHonds
of Old World history either were or had
been in his possession, and were re-
placed in the regalia of their putative
owners by skillful limitations in paste.
So ran the gossip, at which Harry Trent,
when he happened to hear any of it,
would laugh heartily and declare that it
was lucky nobody knew how really diff
cult it was for him to make both ends
meet.
The truth, as usual, doubtless lay be-
tween the extremes, but may reasonably
be held to have inclined toward the large
| extremity 4ither than the small one
Kings and queens and other people of
august station are sometimes in pressing
need of money, and have little except
their jewels TO offer in exchange for it.
Their jewels may or may not be their
personal property; at all events, paste
reproductions are cheap and easily come
by. Who knows, or can expect to know,
whether the Regent de France, the Pasha
Of Egypt, the Sancy, or even the Great
Mogul, are genuine or bogus? If bogus,
where are the originals? Whispers have
even been heard regarding the Kohl.
moor; but it is to be hoped that, in this
case at least, there is no basis for them.
Meanwhile Harry Trent continued dill
gently at work Gu his new house. We
have seen many fine houses erected since
then; but it is safe to say that Trent's
house is still as good as anything in the
g -, ,,+
Its excellence, however, lay not so much
in external adornment as in the fittings
and furniture inside,
1t stood on a corner lOt-or rather on
a corner lot and two adjoining ones
and there was space on both sides of it,
while at the back was a roomy inclosure
and stables. 1t was built of q reddish
graystone, with broad projecting win
dows admitting plenty of light. The plan
of the rooms and staircases was most
agreeable; at whatever point you stood
you saw around you only charming Wis
tas, harmonious lines, soothing colors and
spacious perspectives. Every room was
a picture in itself, combining with the
others to form more elaborate picture.
Yet the eye was never wearied by petty
details; the minor features constituted
and contributed to the whole effect in
stead of detracting from it, There was
nothing in the house that did not belong
to Harry Trent-not only in the ordinary
sense of proprietorship, but as being the
material incarnation of his thoughts,
tastes and accomplishments. His house
was he-and it is paying him no small
compliment to say so. A mans interior
is not always so comely an object of con-
temptation. You night discover, indeed,
here and there, q picture, a statue,
sweep of drapery or passage of color
that indicated regions in the designers
nature of u somewhat sumptuous, sensu-
Gus or voluptuous tendency; but they
were never obtrusive, never out of due
subordination to the rest, and were after
all only what would be expected from
man of his artistic and generous tempera-
ment.
But what was Harry Trent going to
do with his new home? He was going
to live in it, doubtless; but did he mean
to live alone? This question had latterly
thrown good many charming women
into a meditative frame of mind. 1t was
known, of course, that Harry Trent had
been married; but that was in his youth;
his wife had died within year and had
left him childless. There was nothing,
then, in the way of his marrying again,
and upon other grounds such an event
was probable. For, as has already been
intimated, he was still to all intents and
purposes young man. That quality in
him that led to his being called Harry
Trent. instead of Mr.. Trent. or Henry.