, 1897-04-26
no diamond had turned up-precious

glad. I'D gone 10 0ne-foTty on tnat par
,lcuiar bird myself.
The little Jew like most Jews-ae
aldn. make any great 1uss over bad
luck; but Potter declined 10 go on with
the auction until it was understood thai
the goods could moi be delivered until
the sale was over. The little Jew want
ed TO argue that the case was exception
al, and as the discussion ran pretty even,
inc thing Vas postponed until the next
morning. We mad a lively dinner-table
that evening, l 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
hin some consideration for his sports
man-like behavior. And the old gentle
man whose son was a lawyer said he'd
been thinking the thing over and that
it was very doubtful il, when a bird had
been opened and the diamond recovered,
proper owner. l remember l suggested it
came uncer the laws OF treasure-trove-
which was really the truth OF the mat
ter. There was a hot argument, and
we settled 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 a 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 knowl-
edge, and belief, did not contain n dia-
mond. 1t was in 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 a rise. The blessed birds aver
aged 227, and, oddly enough, this Padis-
hah didn't secure one of 'em-not one.
He made too much shindy, and when
he ought to have been bidding he was
talking about liens, and, besides, Pot
ter was a bit down on him. One fell to
a quiet little officer chap. another to the
little Jew, and the third was syndicated
by the engineers. And then Potter seem
ed suddenly sorry for having sold them,
and said he'd flung away a clear thou
sand pounds. and that very likely he'd
draw a blank, and that he always had
been n fool: but when | went and had a
bit OF a talk to him, with the idea Of
getting him to hedge on his last chance,
| found he'd already sold the bird he'd
reserved to a political chap that was on
board-a chap who'd been studying In
dian morals and social question in his
vacation. That last was the three-hun-
d~red-pounds bird. Well, they landed
three Of the blessed creatures at Brin-
disi-though the old gentleman said it
was a 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, 30 to speak. He kept on saying
he'd get an injunction-he had injunc-
ton on the brain-and giving his name
and address 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 addres. and none OF
them would give their own. 1t vas a
fine row I can tell you-on the plat
form. They all went of by different
trains. l came on to Southampton, and
there I saw the last Of the birds, as l
came ashore; 1t vas the one the engi-
neers bought, and it was standing up
near the bridge, in a kind Of crate, and
looking as leggy and silly n setting for
a valuable diamond as ever you saw
IL it was a setting for a valuable diR-
mond.
How did 1t end? Oh! like that. Well
perhaps. Yes, there's one more thing
that may throw light on it. A week or
so after landing l was down Regent
street doing a bit Of shopping. and who
should I see arm-in-arm and having a
purple time of 1t but Padishah and Pot
ter. II you come to think Of it
Yes. I've thought that Only, you
see, there's no doubt the diamond was
real. And Padishah vas an eminent
Hindoo. I've seen his name in the pa
pers-often. But whether the bird swal-
lowed the diamond certainly is another
matter, as you say."-Argonaut.
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