The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-04-26
THKING DIAMOND
I OUTOILFFE HYNE.
[Ceight, 1893, by Cutclifre Hyne. l

MIR. orrOCkS delivered himself of
Shis stment during q momentary hush
In tho tor dinner chat of the smoke
room withdrew his eyes from the
little, 1t man who had just come in
lie exaned with interest tho butt OF
his cigand carefully licked an angle
Of leafhich threatened to como loose
Sir ndal Vereker, the hydraulic
special, who had won the auction
pool ohe run that day. was standing
coffee liquors round, and the purser
after ting the attendant steward that
his waa kummel and cognac, stuck
the Gig into corner Of his mouth and
Jlnglec,e keys in his trousers pockets
Then ] thrust his heels out straight
before M and blew truncated5 5cones Of
tobacCdnoke at an incandescent lamp
in the ok above
The eneral talk in the smokeroom
did noto ON. Mr.. Horrocks, ~ became
his offi was noted raconteur, and
only P.airn continued his remarks on
the sllr question as affecting tho ex-
port the in Bradford manufactured
goods. 'itcairn had crossed to New
York no times in the Laconic already
and hao notion that he knew by heart
all the lrser's tales. Moreover, being
In his ,pacity of drummer most
widely aveled man himself, he quite
bellevetthat his own remarks were
thorouey we'll worth listening to.
He ole the biggest diamond l ever
saw, t, purscr remarked meditative-
ly durin one Of Pitcairn's pausos for
breath. 1t was stone that should
have goi down into history on the rim
OF some mperor's crown. But so far as
know lncver came up to the surface
again afr that fellow stole it.
'Probly broken up" suggested
Vereker,' and sold in pieces. "
The urser looked down sharply
How di you hear about it, Sir Ran
dal?' he,skcd.
Verekc laughed. II was only gener-
alizing, he said Il haven't Il notion
of what gu re talking about"
"They christened it the King Dia-
mond ouht Kimberley.
"Nevelheard of it," said Sir Ran.
dal. II lave Lady Vereker to specialize
III diamoLls for the pair Of u.s. "
Now, there you are again., said
Pitcairn. Diamonds are just like sill.
Ver-the Tice varies according to the
quantity put on the market, and as
things arr situated at present tho ma
tlons are at the mercy Of traders who've
got capital and brains enough to make
corners N,w, if had the managing of
it,
You haFent," tho purser cut in
acidly, "anl you arc never likely to
have. You can handle diamonds in a
tie pin, butin bulk they'd just fun.
mox you.
"Oh, trot out your chestnut, old
mani said Pitcairn "Some ono wake
mo if l snors. /"
The smo6eroom rustled itself into
easy positions for listening and the
purser, after pretending for a minute or
SO to ignore the silence suddenly looked
down and said, ooh, you want the ta-
BILE, do you"
For heavens sake 60 on, man, and
get it overl" said Pitcairn.
"Well, said the purser, there 8
pnly one fellow in this smokeroom this
yarn ii be chestnut to, and he's new
to the Laconio. 1t isn't yarn uraally
trot out for tho benefit Of passengers. 1t
shows up one man as specially fine
sample Of id fool, and he's a man
I've a particular liking for, and he's sit
ting in my breeches this minute. Ididn t
always use to be in this western ocean
trade. l started life at sea on the Cape
run. and I'd worked up from the very
bottom to being purser on the finest ship
that vent down there. 1t was O Jolly
anug berth, / can tell you, with lots Of
pickings, and as this business with tho
King Diamond bundled me out Of 1t
and left me to cool my heels about the
streets for matter Of 90 very lean
months 1t isn't thing chatter about
through sheer pride at being sacked.
Which line was that on2" asked
Pitcairn.
"Nevel you mind" said the puraer.
1t wal one OF tho two big ones, and
you cIr toss up between them. But it
was the popular line just then because
tho other had had some accidents, and
we were the popular ship. We were
ram jam full, and the skipper had let
his room to HaCton Garden Jew for
100 guineas for the run homo and was
bunking In the charthouse. He'd rec
ord passenger list, and they were all
very flush. Nothing was too expensive
for them. They always bet in cases
OF champagne, and l guess the liquor
products alone on that run footed up to
more than Gl, 900 I tell you felt very
cookahoop over it, l didn't see how the
firm could avoid giving me rise.
Pitcairn began to hum "For He's q
Jolly Good Purser," but the smokeroom
scowled him to silence.
Among other things we'd about q
gallon and a half of diamonds on board,
and that's kind Of freight which pays
In way which would surprise idiots
who only know about tn" cost Of send
Ing shoddy across the W, tern ocean,"
"Shoddy doesn com from Brad.
ford, said Pitcairn "Shoddy Is
made
"Oh, kill that man, somebodyp" the
smokeroom shouted. and once more the
purser proceeded
The diamonds wCrO done mp in lit
tie canvas bags barring tho big stone
which had special sealed case to II
self, and az cf course thcy weren't pni
ished .ney looked like so many rusty
pebbles The bags were put in a san
and the safe was under my bed p!ar;
There was only one key to the safp and
that was at the end Of my watch chain
1t was anxious work being responsible