The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-01-11
!, DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH.
How the Man in the Hotel Lobby Didn';
Make n Fortune,

hdke d fOrtuu0s
Talking about making fortune by
a bold stroke said man in the hotel
lobby as conversation Jagged little,
81 once had fortune within my grasp
and was obliged to see it go to another
just for the lack of few paltry dol
lars
We all said we wanted to hear the
particulars and he got his feet on the
window-sill and continued:
Il was on my way from Savannah to
Washington by rail when | fell in with
an old chap who said he had landed at
Savannah the day before as a ship
wrecked sailor He was a rugged,
honest-loolling old codger, and, though
he didn't say so. took it that he was
an American who had lived abroad for
many years. Something was said
about Soutb America and he appeared
posted. 1t was three hours after we
first spoke to each other before knew
that he was going to Washington to
see his brother. 1t was another half
hour before he innocently added his
brother was a jeweler, and that he
wanted to show him some curious
stones he had picked out of a gravel
bank. That interested me, of course,
and without much coaXing the old man
took sailors tobacco box out of his
bosom and exhibited thirty or forty
diamonds in the rough. l had never
js$'en a rough diamond before. but there
seemed to be no doubt of their being
the genuine stuff. p"
And, of course, you were in for a
spec?" said one of the group.
''Of course. The old fellow had no
| idea of their value, but said he guessed
they might bring u couple of hundred
| dollars. He was quite sure they were
diamonds, but he thought a diamond
had got to be as big as a hickory nut to
have any particular value. He didn't
care particularly about seeing his
brother, and was sorry he hadn't sold
the stones to chap in Savannah, who
offered him two hundred and fifty dol
lars for them, as he wanted to get off
to sea again, and riding in the cars
made him sick. 1 tell you, gentlemen,
my heart was choking me so | could
| hardly articulate when | asked him
| what he would take for the lot, tobacco
box and all. | figured that the cash
| value was from twelve to fifteen thou
| sand dollars, for the stones were all
| good size. He thought it over a minute
and then replied:
"Wall, being as / want to git back
to Savanny mighty bad, and as qslick
as ever | can, and being as my brother
may not be home when l git to Wash
ington, I'll say an even two hundred
dollars fur the lot
| 81 had just fifty-tive dollars with me,
and a watch he said he would take for
fifty dollars more went through the
train, but found no one | knew I
thought of dozen plans to raise the
balance of the sum, but none of them
was any good. l wanted to make the
trade so bad that I'd have sold five
years of my life for ninetyfive dollars.
| went to the conductor, identified my
self, and offered him twenty-five dol
lars for the use of the money for three
Vas raving up ana dn the Ms rAaAlrf
miserable specimen of humanity, actu-
| ated by soulless and sordid motive, got
in with the old man and closed the deal
at two hundred and fifteen dollars.
The seller got off at the next station,
and they had to hold me for the next
twenty miles to keep me from killing
the buyer. He was so afraid of me
that they let him ride in the express
car
''And thus you lost fortune?'
"Wen, no-not exactly"
''What do you mean?"
perhaps you didn't see it in the pa
! pers, but dozens of them had column
article about it. Those stones were
not even rhine-stones in the rough, but
pieces of quartz or flint worn smooth
on one side by the action of water and
sand. The man who bought them
found out by Washington jeweler
that he had been done for, and he took
the thing so much to heart that he
tried to suicide at his hotel. / have no
| doubt that my innocent-looking old
| salt was confidence man made up for
the occasion, but he played his part so
! well that only the lack of money pre-
vented me from being taken in and
done form. Y. Recorder.
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