The Irish standard., 1892-10-08

We were thinking Of going to Rome
at the time to spend six or eight months,
and the first idea was to give the job to
Castellani But then it appeared that
my mother had got her eye fixed upon
certain man in Paris who she had been
told was the first lapidary in Europe.
He and none out he, should set our
diamonds. You know my mother gen
orally had her way. and she had it in
this case The fellow certainly did un-
derstand his business, his work was
we'll done, as You may have noticed this
evening A queer, pale. nervous little
chap he was: not French,nan at all,
but Saxon, born in Dresden, believe.
or some village in that neighborhood
His name was Rudoiph Heinrich tcu-
dolph. He lived and worked in little
dark shop in the Latin quarter.
He and became quite intimate. You
see, had been commissioned to attend
to this diamond business and to remain
in Paris until it WAS done | was to
watch it through all it's stages. and be
sure that my mothers directions regard
ing the style Of the setting were accu-
rately followed When all was finished
was to pay the bill and bring the dia~
nlonds on to Rome. where the family
would by that time be established. Well,
was a young fellow, just feeling my
oats, and probably was not much cast
down at the prospect Of spending a
month Or two alone in Paris, as you might
suppose But doubt whether should
have attended to my ostensible business
SO faithfully us | actually did had | not
been so greatly taken with my little
friend Rudolph He and | 'twigged"
one another as boys say. from the first.
| used to sit and watch MIN work for
hours at time, and as he worked he
would talk, and very queer. captivating
talk a good deal of it WAS He WAS a
thorough artist and enthusiast, and
seemed to care for nothing outside Of
his profession. He did not appear to me
to be in the way OF making much money
and it occurred to me that it might be
acceptable were l. in an unootrusive
way. to introduce him to some wealthy
customers knew few people in Paris;
but there was Il MI DirchmOre, an
American gentleman. staying at my
over cup of coffee and a cigar once or
twice: he was II handsome, middle aged
man. with an atmosphere OF refined at
t1uence about him such AS would have
betitted a dake. Not bit like your ira
ditional Yankee; in fact. I'm NOT sure
that 1 shouts have suspected him If /
hadn't seen his address" Fifth avenue,
New York city, u. $. in the hotel
register aboat week after my arrival
He was an agreeable man enough,
though not at all the sort to take liber-
ties with; however, made up my mind
that ! would get him to Rudolph's on
the first pretext that offered.
Well had ILL excellent pretexr be-
fore long. Mr.. Birchmore came into
the cafe one. Afternoon, with rather an
annoyed look, and made some inquiries
Of the waiter. Francois raised his eye
brows and shrugged his shoulders; there
was some further conference, and then
he and Mr.. Birchmore began searching
about the Aoor OF the room. 1t presently
TRANSFERRED that he had lost diamond
out of his ring, which had contained
three matched brilliants. 1t WAS no
where 70 t;e found.
"a don't mind the loss OF the stone it.
self, said Mr Blrch&nore at last sitting
down near NV table; but It's one Of a
set matched witt, great difficulty, and
I'M afraid ! nlay never replace it,
How, r,-.,a ,,,1 ! sat forth
the wisdom, Skill and resources Of my
little Ssas<si friend in glowing colors;
mentioned the work ne was doing for
me, and declared that If any man in
Europe could help Mr.. Birchmore to re-
pair his loss. Rudolph was he. MIR.
Birchmore at first paid little heed to my
representations, but finally induced
him to accompany me to the Latin
quarter, and at least make the attempt.
The next morning, accordingly, we set
forth, and as we sauntered along the
wide. pleasant boulevards our CONVEX
sation became more free and affable
than it had been hitherto. found my
companion could be exceedingly enter
tanning when he chose it, and had {. vast
1ilfk Va SApCl ACASC HuA ttAsIhoAAV w
draw upon. He had been almost every
where; he had made himself familiar
with all varieties of civilized and un-
civilized men: as matter Of course, too,
he was versatile iinguist.
The only direction in which be gave
any evidence Of comparative deficiency
was in that of literature and the fine
arts. His life had been essentially an
active one; he cared little for Tennyson
and Swinburne. for Matthew Arnold
and Carlyle He had, however, read and
appreciated Macbeth, and some other
of Shakespeare plays; and he was we'll
acquainted with several of the romances
of s'Unabashed Defoe. did not dis
cover all this in the course of that one
stroll over to the Latin quarter, but it
leaked out during our subsequent &C
quaintance, which was destined to be-
come more intimate and prolonged than
I had any idea of then. As have init
mated, Mr. Birchmore was quite frank
and open in his talk, except upon one