Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1897-05-27
A DEAL IN OSTRICHES.
BY II. C. WELLS.

Talking Of the prices of birds, I've
seen am ostrich that cost 3Oo," said
the taxidermist, recalling his youth of
travel. Three hundred pounds!"
lie looked at me over his spectacles.
I've seen another that was refused at
four!"
No" he said, sit wasn't any fancy
points. They was just plain ostriches.
A LITTLE off color, too-owing to dietary.
And there wasn't amy particular re-
striction of the demand, either. You'd
have thought five ostriches would have
ruled cheap on an East Indiaman. But
the point was, one of 'em had swallowed
diamond.
The chap it got it off was Sir
Mohini Padshah, q tremendous swell
"a Piccadilly swell, you might say, up
to the neck OF him, and then an ugly
black head and q whooping turban, with
this diamond in it. The blessed bird
pecked suddenly and had it, and when
the chap made fuss it realized it had
done wrong, I suppose, and went and
mixed itself with the others to preserve
its incog. 1t all happened in minute.
l was among the first to arrive, and
there was this heather going over his
gods, and two sailors and the man who
had charge of the birds laughing fit
to split. 1t was a rrmmy way of losing
a Jewel, come to think of it. The man
in charge hadn't been about just at the
moment, so that he didn't know which
bird it was. Clean lost, you see. ]
didn't feel half sorry, to tell you the
truth. The beggar had been swagger-
ing over his blessed diamond ever since
he came aboard.
~ thing like that goes from stem to
stern Of a ship in no time. Everyone
was talking about it. Padishah went
below to hide his feelings. AT dinner
lie pigged at table by himself, him and
two other uindoos-the captain kind
Of jeered at him about it, and he got
very excited. He turned round and
talked into my ear. He would not buy
the birds; he would have his diamond.
lie demanded his rights as British sub
icct. His diamond must be found. He
was firm upon that. He would appeal
TO the house of lords. The man in
charge of the birds was one Of those
wooden-headed chaps you can't get q
new idea into anyway. He refused any
proposal to interfere with the birds
by way Of medicine. His instructions
were to feed them so-and-so and treat
them so-and-so, and it was as much
as his place was worth not to feed them
so-ard-so and treat them so-and-so.
Padishah had wanted q stomach pump
though you can't do that to bird,
YOU know. This Padishah was full of
bad law, like most of those blessed Ben
gals, and talked of having lien on the
birds. ard so forth. But an old boy,
who said his son was 4 London barrister,
argued that what bird swallowed be-
came ipso facto part of the bird, and
that Pad:shah's only remedy lay in
an action for damages, and even then
it might be possible to show contribu-
tory negligence. He hadn't any right
of way about an ostrich that didn't
belong to him. That upset Padishah
extremely, the more so as most of us
expressed an opinion that that was the
reasonable view. There wasn't any law
yer aboard to settle the matter, so we
all talked pretty free. At last, after
Alden. it appears that he came round to
the general opinion, and went privately
to the man in charge and made an offer
for all five ostriches.
THE next morning there was q fine
shindy at breakfast. The man hadn't
any authority to deal with the birds,
and nothing on earth would induce him
TO sell; but it seems he told Padishah
that Eurasian named Potter had al
ready made him an offer, and on that
PaGishah denounced Potter before us
all But think the most of us thought
it rather smart Of Potter, and l know
that when Potter said that he'd wired
at Alden to London to buy the birds,
ard would have in answer at Suez. l
cursed pretty richly at lost oPpor-
tunity.
M Suez, Padishah gave way to tears
actual wet tcars-when Potter became
The owner Of the birds, and offered him
EON X ~ tJ III lIIC NV NSAAAS3 49, -
than 200 per cent. on what Potter had
given. Potter said he'd be hanged il
he parted with feather of them-that
he meant to kill them off one by one
and find the diamond; but afterwards,
thinking it over, he reiented little.
lie was gambling hound, w7is this
Potter, little queer at cards, and this
kind of rrize-packet business must have
suited him down to the ground. Any
how, he offered, for lark, to sell the
birds separately to separate people by
auction at a starting price of $50 for a
bird. But one of them, he said, he
meant to keep for luck.
You mrst understand this diamond