Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1897-07-10

this idea Of an ostrich gamble caught
on. Now, it happened that I'd been
having few talks on general subjects
with the man who looked after these
ostriches, ana quite incidentally he'd
said one of the birds was ailing, and he
fancied it had indigestion. 1t had one
feather in its tail almost all white, by
which 1 knew it, and so, when next day
the auction started with it I capped
Padishah's es5 by 600.
Il fancy was a bit too sure and
eager with my bid, and some of the 9TH
ers spotted the fact that was in1 the
know And Padishah went for that par
ticular bird like an irresponsible luna
tic. At last the Jew diamond merchant
got it for e175, and Padishah said e180
just after the hammer came down-so
Potter declared. At any rate the Jew
merchant secured it, and there and then.
he got gun and shot it. Potter made a
hades of fuss because he said it would
injure the sale of the other three, and
Padishah, of course, behaved like an
idiot, but all of us were very much ex-
cited. can tell you was precious
glad when that dissection was over and
no diamond had turned up-preoious
glad. I'd gone to one forty on that par
ticular bird myself.
1.-THE little Jew was like most Jews
he didn't make any great fuss over
bad luck, but Potter declined to 60 on
with the auction until it was under
stood that the goods could not be deliv-
cred until the sale was over. The little
Jew wanted to argue that the case was
exceptional, and as the discussion ran
pretty even the thing was postponed
until the next morning. We had a live
ly dinner table that evening, / can tell
you, but in the end Potter got his way,
since it would stand to reason he would
be safer if he stuck to all the birds and
that we owed him some consideration
for his sportsmanlike behavior And
the old gentleman whose son was law
yer said he'd been thinking the thing
over and that it was very doubtful If,
when a bird had been opened and the
diamond recovered, it ought not to be
handed back to the proper owner.
II remember suggested it came un-
der the laws of treasure trove-which
was really the truth of the matter.
There was hot argument, and we set
tied it was certainly foolish to kill the
bird on board the ship. Then the old
gentleman, going at large through his
legal talk, tried to make out the sale
was lottery and illegal and appealed
to the captain, but Potter said he sold
the birds as ostriches. He didn't want
to sell any diamonds, he said, and didn't
offer that as an inducement. The three
birds he put up, to the best of his
knowledge and belief, did not contain a
diamond. 1t was i'll the one he kept
so he hoped.
"Prices ruled high next day, all the
same. The fact that now there were
four chances instead of five, of course,
caused rise. The blessed birds aver
aged e227, and oddly enough this Pa,
one He made too much shindy, and
when he ought to have been bidding he
was talking about liens, and, besides,
Potter was bit down Oh him. One fell
to quiet little officer chap, another to
the little jew and the third was syndi-
Gated by the engineers, and then Potter
seemed suddenly sorry for having sold
them, and said he'd flung away clear
e1,O0O and that very likely he'd draw q
blank, and that he always had been a
fool, but when went and had a bit Of
talk to him, with the idea Of getting
him to hedge on his last chance, I found
he'd already sold the bird he'd reserved
to a political chap that was on board
chap who'd been studying Indian
morals and social questions in his vaca-
tion. That last was the $500 bird.
"Well, they landed three of the bless
ed creatures at Brindisi-though the
old gentleman said 1t was breach Of
the customs regulations - and Potter
and Padishah landed too. The Hindoo
seemed half mad as he saw his blessed
diamond going this way and that. SO to
speak. He kept on saying he'd get an
injunction-he had injunction on the
brain-and giving his name and ad-
dress to the chaps who'd bought the
birds, so that they'd know where to
send the diamond. None Of them want
ed his name and address, and none Of
them would give his own. 1t was a
fine row, can tell you-on the plat
form. They all went off by different
trains. I came on to Southampton, and
there I saw the last of the birds, as
came ashore. 1t was thu one the engi-
neers bought, and it was standing up
near the bridge in kind of crate and
looking as leggy and silly setting for
a valuable diamond as ever you saw-if
it was setting for valuable diamond.
"How did it end? Oh, like that.
Well-perhaps. Yes, there's one more
thing that may throw light on it. A
week or so after landing 1 was down
Regent street doing bit of shopping.
and who should see arm in arm and
having purple time of it but Padishah
and Potter. If you come to think Of it
"Yes. I've thought that. Only, you
see, there's no doubt the diamond was
real. And Padishah was an eminent
Hindoo. I've seen his name in the papers
often. But whether the bird swallowed
the diamond certainly is another mat
ter, as you say "-Argonaut.