Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1897-07-29

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Lind of prize-packet business must nave
suited him down to the ground Any
how, he offered, for lark, TO sell uhe
birds separately to separate people oy
auction at a starting price OF 81 TOT
bird. But one of them, he SAID, ne
meant to keep for luck.
"You must understand this DIAMOND
was a valuable one-a little jew chaP'
a. diamond merchant, who was WIN US,
had put It at three or four thousand
when Padishah had shown it to HIM
and this idea of an ostrich gamble
caught on. Now it happened that d
been having a few talks on genera
| subjects with the man who looked al.ei
| these ostriches, and quite incidentally
he'd said one of the birds was aillng' |
and he fancied il had indigestion. IL
had one feather in its tail almost All
white, by which l knew il, and so wheh'
NEXT day. the auction started with u,
I canned Padishah's IS by 90 fancy
w.as bit too sure and eager with my
hid. and some Of the Others spotted Iiie
fact that l was in the know. Ana Ia
dishah went for that particular olrd IKE
an irresponsible lunauc. At last tiie
lew diamond merchant got u LOT
e175 and Padfshah said 6 $50 JUST
after the hammer came down-so TOT
ter declared. At any rate the jew mer-
chant secured it, and there and theh
he cot a gun and shot it. Potter MADE
hades OF fuss because he sald u
would iuiure the sale o. the other three'
and Padishah, of course, behaNed ilNe
AN IDIOT; but all of US were very nucii
excited. | can tell yop l was precious
Glad when that dissection was over
and no diamond had turned up-Pre-
cious glad. I'd gone to one-forty on tha'
particular bird myself.
"The little jew was like most Jews
he didn't make any great fuss over oad
luclf;but Potter declined to go on WIN
e the auction until il was understoo'i
4 that the goods could not be delivered
( until the sale was over. The little jew
wanted TO argue that the case was eN-
!. ceptional, and as the discussion ran
1 nrettv even, the thing was pos Pohcu
until the next morning. We had I'VE
s IL dinner-table that evening, ! can TEL
5. you lint in the end. Potter got his way
7. since il would stand 10 reason he Woui0
p be safer II he stuck TO all the birds an'
d that we owed him some consideration
e for his sportsman-like behavior An'
1t the old gentleman whose son was law
d YER said he'd been thinking the thins
over and that it was very doubtful II
ir when a bird had been opened and IN
II diamond recovered, il ought not 10 b
lp handed back to the proper owner re
" member suggested it came under IN
ii laws of the treasure-trove-whie wa
I'd really the truth of the matter. Iher
IN was n hot argument, and we settled
nd was certainly foolish to kill the bird o
nd hoard the ship. Then the old gentle
We man. going at large through his leg
te. talk. tried to make out the sale was
nd lottery and illegal, and appealed to III
us captain; but Potter said he SOLD Ii
ho birds az ostriches. He didn't want
~ sell any diamonds, he said, and didn
ng offer that as an inducement. The TIRE
an birds he put up, to the best OF II
he knowledge and belief, did not contai
oh a diamond II was in the one he kept
so he hoped.
Ase "Prices ruled high next day all u
q same. The fact that now there we
zee four chances instead of five OF cour
caused riss. The blessed bir
10 averaged two hundred and invent
me seven, and, oddly enough, this Padisl
ent didn't secure one OF 'em-not one.
r. made too much shindy, and when
ma oupbt TO have been hiding he was tai
mo ing about liens. and, besides, Potter W
sot a bit down on him. One fell to qul
'hu little officer chap, another TO the lt
'uS lew. and the third was syndicated
hu' the engineers. And then Potter seem
up suddenly sorry for having sold the
ne and said he'd flung away clear e 10
'e"' and that very likely he'd draw blaI
IA and that he always had been a fool; |
iose when | went and had bit of talk
s1 him. with the idea of getting him
'ny hedge on his last chance, l found n
'i already sold the bird he'd reserved
political chap that was on board
-, chap who'd been studying Indian IN
ais and social questions in his vacau
ieA' That last was the 300 bird. Well. Il
landed three of the blessed creatu
IN at Brindisi-though the old gentlen
n - said it was a breach of the custo
D. regulations-and Potter and Padisl
a. landed too. The Hindoo seemed |
49, mad as he saw his blessed diamond
steT ing this way and that, so to speak
, he kept on saying he'd get an injunct
ard he had injunction on the brain
: IN giving his name and address to
tbaD chaps who'd bought the birds, so
.ih,,- they'd know where to send the
.;rbt mond. None of them wanted
;dn,t name and address and none
shah them would give their own.
,f ms was a fine row, can tell you-on
: the platform. They all went off by dli
law emit trains. came on to Southamp
n we and there l saw the last of the bl
after as l came ashore; it was the one
nd to engineers bought, and it was stan'
ately up near the bridge, in kind of Ct
offer and looking as leggy and silly set
or