The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1897-09-25
THE NAZIM'S JEM.

VI ILLS peIsOHhlly. roI wv WoOAS VI
more I was either delirious or uncon-
scious. Then, one bright May morning,
I came back from the land of shadows.
It seemed to me, as | lay there, that
my mind was u~nnaturally acute. ! fan
cied that my enfeebled physical condi-
ton ~accentuated the action of my brain.
It seemed as if the rest l had given it
the rest, at least, from lucid action
had re~invigorated it. l remember that
I threw a great deal Of thought into the
construction of the first connected SELL
tence I addressed to my man. This is
what I said:
"Any letters, George?"
He started up hastily.
Letters. sir? Yes, sir, letters and a
telegram.
Read the telegram" l said, after
another spell Of thought.
He tore open the yellow envelope.
Just heard of your illness. Start
for home today. Mary"
Mary is my promised wife. l recalled
that she was at Colorado Springs with
her invalid mother when l fell i'll. l
looked at George. He must have read
my question. He seemed to make a mo-
mentary calculation.
"If all goes we'll, sir, she should be
here today"
Mary was coming. The thought act
e6 on me like a tonic. l wanted to
throw aside the blankets and leap to the
1oor. Godsl And I couldn't even raise
my arm
"Get flowers. George" l murmured.
"Let in the sunlight. Hide these bot
ties"
He smiled and smoothed the blankets
above me.
Everything shall be as presentable
as possible, sir, +" he said.
AS presentable as possible? That note
Of exception must mean me. Never
mind, Mary was coming, Mary loved
me too well to take offense at my
changed appearance.
George" l said, "the world is still
outside there, I suppose. Read the news
paper"
He read to me for half an hour or
more, read the news just as it came to
hand-telegraph, local, political. For
. time his voice has simply a lulling
effect. Then I began to take notice of
the substance of what he read. When l
had heard all l wanted, l babe him
stop and let the substance of his read
ing filter through my brain. AS l strove
to recall it all there was an item that
seemed to hold my fancy in a peculiar
way. 1t was a telegram which told that
q nizam of far Hindustan had been rob-
bed of an almost priceless diamond
which it was understood he meant to
present to Queen Victoria at the time
Of the coming jubilee. This story. l say,
seemed to fascinate me-the diamond
of the nizam, filched from its oriental
owner, cleaning mayhap from the
dusky corner of some squalid hut when
it should be eclipsing the jewels Of a
queen. And Mary vas coming. What a
gift for Mary that diamond would be-
Mary, my queenl There was a strange
humming in my head, but out Of it all
came II clear thought would get
that diamond and give it to Mary.
Wuoh 1 baA dCtCL lulutu OH tulSt j bccuu-
ed to grow cool and calculating. l real
lied how helpless I was physically, but
my will power, thank God, was still
left me. / would concentrate my mind
on the thief. I would will him to come
to me.
I had read somewhere that the soul
in a body purified by the fire of disease
riana ahOvQ tho rpstriofiOpa nf oommOp
clay. Was not my soul so purified? l
fixed my thought upon the nizam's dia-
mond.
Red clouds rolling rapidly; out of
them a touch of blue sky, a whirl of vel
low dust, a III that beat down fiercely
from m%idheaven; the walls of a city, a
city with queer minarets and towers,
and strange palaces; a city with a huge
gateway through which passed in and
out a rrotley array of strange CARRIED
people; bullocks and carts, and then a
numbering elephant, and red coated sol
diers, and white turbaned men with
brown faces. And the air was hot and
dry, and a strange odor came to my nos
trils.
Then in a corner by the huge portals
I noted a crouching figure-a turbaned
native with strange rings in his ears
and an eye that CLEANED with a start
ling whiteness. And on him my
thought conferred. Then he arose from
his bent position and skunk forth. As
he passed amid the snarling dogs that
fought and yelped beyond the city
walls I noticed that in the folds of his
garments he held a long, keen knife.
Ever and anon he looked over his Shout
der as he slouched along. And the sun
glared, and the desert spread before
him, and the dust arose in yellow puffs.
Then came two native soldiers riding
on weary horses, and they cried out at
sight Of the footman. And when they
dismounted to seize him the knife
flashed, and one soldier lay silent at his
feet, and the other fled across the gleam-
ing desert, and the knife was red.
There were clouds and confused
scenes, and out from them all the man
with the red knife pressed on, in his
eyes a strange light, a CLEAN, half ter
ror, half desperation, the look CT a
haunted man, whose fate impels him
forward. Then another city, a city Of
whitewashed walls and many huts and
few palaces and stretches of the sea and
the masts Of ships.
The swish of waves, and the roaring