Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-04-24
fsiE. ,loRY Us An |. b. B.

veis. as 1 WIS Whiting for my train ut
i.Nerlooi street. YOU re not "A day older.
t.ofng homo TO tea in the same old,
steady fashion? What, don't you know
snes should have known you any
~h-Ie,"
With puzzled eyes turned and stared
NJ Sssg. bronzed bearded man whom
haa no recollection of having seen be-
fore. tie laughed loudly at my per-
plrNity-so loudly that several people
stared AZ us. which us staid city man,
hSting 10 be conspicuous, very much
disiiAed. Consequently il was in 40
friendly fashion that eyed the stranger
Who thus noisily claimed acquaintance.
Don't you remember Harry Down
ham," he snid. at last, who worked
under you in that dug-hole of an office
cong ago-where ! suppose you're still
rinding on in the same old way
Jake" he added, pcrcmptorily. thrust
sis out huge sunburnt hand with
ich he RrlSped mine till my fingers
ere crushed. Now you must come
md dine with me. Your wife? Oh. she
.on't mind your playing truant for
.'nvc;" and in a short time my master
fu acquaintance and | were seated OPP
I'osits each other in a well known
restaurant.
Yes. did now remember him. But
he WAS changed indeed from the Flim
young fellow who had been the fiightiest
clerk in the office, and whose short
cOmngs had. after innumerable grumb-
hugs ON the part OF the firm. led TO his
dismissal. Occasional surmises had
stns'e been inGulSed in by his former
comrades as 10 his career, none of them
Of q complimentary kind, as I cnndi,l-
~ remarked.
They weren't SO far wrong" he I'M
swered, cNrelerssly. - was never fit for
fIumdrum life and bricks and mortar.
The wild freedom of uncivilizcd regions
was my Ideal. Would YOU like TO hear
my adventures? though your rigid re-
spectability may be somewhat rudciy
shocked"
OF course RSsented. One always has
certain curiosity about an acquaint-
Rnce who disappears in impecunious
Euise. and turns up years afterwards
With all the external signs OF wealth
which Downham showed in rather too
ProoOuaoed u fashion for good taste.
Where haze you come from - snid.
looking at his bronzed face curiously.
PROM South Africa. LANDED at
southampton two days ago. Am ! go
ing back? No. sir. not much. II
xs.ouldE't be heartily The countrv's
TOO hot-fn ell senses. I've made my
Pile. and am going TO settle down in the
south of France. where my sisters been
Irving aa Eoverness for years. Poor
girl. she'll know what leisure and lux
ury are now; and there's charming
place I've bought there. Climate and
surroundings just suit me. for my chest,
Dig as look. sometimes gets wrong.
What have I done in South Africa?
All sorts OF things. liut my last and
most, or Tnuher sole. successful part WAS
that OF an I. ID. &"
looked At him in some perplcxity.
->sur What he meant | could not guess.
tie watched me with an amused smile
lyon seem puzzled. old man." he said.
Its nothing to do with dynamite q
staTted-being a nervous MANI. Not
hut what explosions of "A sort are some
shines its consequence. I thought you
knew what those mysterious initials
n,caet They're us plain in South
Africa ss A - c in your foCgy island.
7.
An Illicit diamond is one which has
h"en conveyed-good word that,
Sifiak~spTaTran, isn't it?-from the
mine in other than legal fashion. And
heres n deal of legality. let me tell
YOU. in diamond digging. There's big
saf OF officials to look after IL. Illicit
diamonds are usually found and dis
posed OF by the KafIirs employed in
the mines-though by no means only by
shen-and sold much below their value
tc-well-speculators like myself, who
take their chance in view of the big
profit"
''What?" gasped. Then you have
actually bought--stolen property"
Well" he said. eooIIy refiling our
glasses, that's perhaps your way Of
putting il here. It's not ours i'm South
Africa Besides, ! think Eve hea I'd even
M this respectable city Of money lend
ers buying Feversions for a mere song.
and spectators purchasing stocks and
shares from despondent holders, know
ing secretly that those stocks and
shar'es were going up in n day or two
with bound. Also Of houses and land
bought from private knowledge of a
speedy demand for them, for a tritie. the
k~iiers being quite ignorant of it..
Haven't you heard of such things?"
did rot reply. | was too much upset.
We're was |, a head clerk of many years
standing. dining and drinking cham
IAgnc at the cost of an illicit diamond
hnyer.
~Howe$er." he resumed. somewhat
taTfsy. II don't ask for your approval;
SsirHFSay wanted to amuse you with the
rfory of my adventures; SO you may
tEongine I'm soIiloquizing.
why should the mining companies
have the monopoly of all the diamond
yielding districts?'' he continued. in n
fierce tone land | thought it best 70
drink my champagne since the bottle
WAS opened. and say nothing-these
udventurers sometimes carry revolvers,
believe)- There's big profit in these
fhings- The law is very stringent, and
Ehere,s great difficulty in passing the
stresses from the finder to the I. d. r.
xSnH chr profit tempts DeoDIe-and in N n