The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-05-26

luue anu longitude at NlllcH nc eApeCt-
ed to cast anchor and load his bark
with treasure trove.
At the outset he exhibited two
ounce vial, in which was seen to be q
white moth of extraordinary size and
beauty. Extracting the lovely creature
from it's prison, in which 1t had been
Theoretically sealed, it's snowy coat was
brushed away like the dust of a tomb,
and the body, dry as a mummy, was
broken in two. Thereupon out rolled a
dozen pearls, none larger than ordinary
bird shot, but each perfect in form and
luster, and such as to be Of commercial
value in any market on the two hemis-
pheres. He then brought forth sec
ond- tiny bottle, half filled with the
same dainty treasures, but of greater
size There was no mistaking the
character of these pellet-like objects.
They were pearls than which none
lovelier We're ever brought up by divers
from the bottom of the Oriental seas.
Accompanying Jordan when he dis
played the white moth and his vial of
pearls to his friends was the senior
member of the most reliable jewelry es-
adjustment in the city of st. Joseph,
who, at the old mans request first told
the following story: I'm October last
woman, evidently in moderate circum-
stances, came to our store on Edmond
street, and, showing me pearl about
the size of French pea, asked me
what we would give for it. 1 scarcely
knew what to say, and while / hesita-
ted she said she would like to exchange
1t for plain gold ring. The offer of a
two dollar ring for the pearl was quick
ly accepted, and the gem at once
passed into my possession.
Upon asking her for the history of
the pretty bauble, she said that she had
spent the summer in tour through
western Kansas, and one day, while
walking along the foot of bluff skirt
ing the dry bed of an old river she had
seen something shining In the sand,
and, thinking it was a pebble. had
kicked 1t out with her foot, picked it up
and afterward brought it home with
her. ! mounted that gem in the very
finest style, and placed it in a showcase
alongside of diamond, emerald and
opal rings of much greater value, and
marked the price down to fifty dollars,
which but little more than paid for the
setting. When customers came in and
admired the ring and would have be-
come purchasers, I told the story of Its
discovery as it had been given to me,
thinking to give it something more than
it's intrinsic value.
But, no sir, nobody would buy a
stone picked up on the plains, and Sc
lected other rings less valuable in pref
erence. Finally, tired out of answering
questions and seeing the lack of appre-
citation on the part of customers, | took
the pearl out of it's setting and sent it
to Tiffany In a few days / received a
check for seventy-five dollars for 1T,
and am now satisfied that 1t was reset
and sold for more than twice the sum
paid me-
Jordan here took up the thread Of the
romance. He said that after prospect
ing for years in the Rockies he had
made up his mind to spend the spring
of1S95 on the prairies for the sake ofen-
joying their beauty all that season and
proceeding westward at his leisure.
He was accompanied by his wife, the
woman who afterward bartered with
the jeweler, and upon reaching a point
rather well up in the foot hills they
went into camp, determined to rest for
a week or two, being amply provided
for such lay-over. One evening as he
was lying down. in the wagon, smoking
| his pipe and reading by the light of a
| lantern, a large white moth flew in I'M
| der the canvas. 1t was SO pretty that
| he caught it and placed it beneath a
| glass sugar bowl, where he and his wife
continued to admire it for several days,
and long after it's death. At length he,
| being about to move on, took the moth
| from under the glass and was about to
| throw it away when the creature crum-
| bled in his hand, and to his astonish-
ment there poured out from the chrys-
| ais a dozen of these pearls. He could
not account for an adventure so closely
| resembling those chronicled in the Ara
| bian Nights, but resolved to tarry a lit
| tie longer. For some reason he did not
mention the circumstance to his wife.
| On the following night half dozen of
| the moths flew into his movers wagon
| and were captured, and each was found
to be loaded with pearls. Then he
1
| ing close watch for white moths and
gradually tracing them to their lair,
| This was matter of some days, and
| meantime Mrs. Jordan accidentally
| stumbled upon the pearl and was
equally reticent in regard to her find
as was her husband concerning his.
| But the old man had fallen upon the
| haunts of his winged treasure bearers,
| though he did not at once find the solu-
| ton of the mystery that had puzzled
| and detained him. 1t was evidently the
| bed of an ancient stream, and between
| the walls that had confined its waters
and formed a beautiful canon on the
plains the sand bars still retained the
| position and shape they took before the
| waters receded centuries ago. Beyond
| question this canon In the central val
| ley. whose serpentine course led toward
| the mountains, had been followed by
| the last vestige of the vast inland sea,
| across whose bosom floated the ice
bergs which, scraping across the sub
| merged crests of the gold-bearing
mountains extending from Behring Sea
| to Patagonia's southernmost point
| tore from the mother lodes nuggets OF
| gold and dropped them in the valleys
and thus created the placer mines OF
| to-day. The sea subsidized and rivers
| formed to be exhausted in turn in Their
| long journey across the valley bounded
| by the Rockies and the cliffs of the
Missouri Then the plains became the
| Great American Desert, traVersed by