People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1899-03-21

tnat everything was right for the
alght IN the camp l went over to his
house to make him a call. Van AS
weld though friendly enough, re-
selved me in the stolid half-suspicious
way Characteristic Of his people in
meeting an-Bnglishman. He gained
coincidence as we talked, ard at last,
Just as | was about to go. he fetched
from a chest something wrapped up
IN a dressed lambskin, which he un.
rolled and displayed to me.
Vat you teenk of dot?" he asked.
IT was what seemed to be a crys-
bal, the size of a walnut. A sort OF
crust OF earthly material inclossd it,
but through this crust l saw in the
eampight some CLEANS of color and
brightness.
oh, it may be pebble, or it NAV
oe diamond said. Where did YOU
pick it up?"
Dot boy Pombe. der Kaffr, find
n when he drife der sheep to der
Eraal. He come to me und say he a
mooee clittee haf found-a beautiful
stone, as you say. And 1 hat it. Vat
you teenk? Is it Something's vurt?
i looked carefully at the stone
again and fancied its color as | turn.
ID ut in the lampligbt. I'll give you
this pipe-its meerschaum from the
block-and five pounds OF plug to-
bacco for it, / said.
The Boer pondered on my offer,
then rolled the stone up in a lamb.
SKIN, put it away and did not return
10 the subject again that night. The
aeTt morning as was inspanning my
teams Van Asweld came over to the
camp, bringing the lambskin and its
Inelosure. Unrolling it again he
asked me:
Vat you teen today? Is it der
pipe und der tobacco vurt?'
In the daylight the stone under its
crust looked as dull as glass. l was
busy with my men and oxen, all call.
mg for my attention dozen different
ways at once, so l merely glanced at
VI. Van Asweld had always been
friendly to me. l did not take much
stock in the stone, but l saw that he
had taken a fancy'to my pipe and
was willing to please him.
Yes, I'll stick to my Offer said,
expecting that he would take me up,
but not at all desiring that he should.
1t was his Dutch slowness of thinking
only, | believe to this day, that kept
him from doing it. But he had to
ponder the proposition over again be.
fore he could come to a conclusion.
and, as luck would have it, he seated
himself in the shade of a tree. Now.
there are two things that bring out
the tints Of a diamond in perfection;
the lights OF a chandelier and the
shade OF tree in a bright day. The
sunbeams, you see, sitting down
through the moving leaves give Just
the play Of light that brings out ev.
erything there is in the stone. Van
Asweld's eye caught the depth and
glow OF flame under the stones crust
ing that had seen by the lamplight
the night before.
IT dakes my WOOL to Cape Town
next month"; he said at last. Il show
der stone to Lillifeldt und find vat he
say to it, He rolled the stone up
once more in the lambskin, and nv
chance for getting the 'mooee clittee'
was gone. Of course, I did not know
what / was missing, and the whole
thing passed out of my mind. I did
not think of the stone again until nv
meeting Van Asweld, three months
later, in Cape Town, reminded me OF
1t.
Der luster stone, you gif me der
pipe and tobacco for it now?' he said
with perfect gravity.
"'Oh, you brought it to Lillifeldt's,
did YOU? I said. He told you, I sup
pose, that it was a crystal worth 2
shillings for curiosity?'
'Yaw, it vas crystal-a diamond
like a crystal big-und he say he gil
me 100000
Ten thousand pounds!' I re.
peated, thinking that someone had
been playing the old fellow a joke.
OF course, they paid you the money
down.
Nav, / not dakes it, he answered.
ut was the simple truth he told me.
Lillifeldt & Co. had offered him a10,-
900 for the 'mooee clittee' and he had
refused the offer. He took 1t back
to Oabtown with him, and there he
matters with Pombe, who
found the stone. tt was the custom
airy agreement with Beers with their
Kaffr employees that when a lad had
served out his time with a master he
should receive from him ten sheep,
a yoke OF oxen, an AK and some trink.
cts and yards Of calico cloth. With
these he could go back to his people,
buy wife or two, and set up as a
man of consideration in the COM
munity. Van Asweld gave Pombe 300
sheep, forty-eight goats, a wagon and
span of sixteen oxen, which was
wealth for a Kafir.
"The Iillifeldt's got the 'mooee Gilt.
tee at last, paying Van Asweld ELL
900 for the stone, which he was once
within an ace of parting with for a
meerschaum pipe and five pounds Of
tobacco. II he had not gone under
the tree to think nv offer over I be-
lieve the great diamond it weighed
So karats uncut-would have gone TO
me. Lillifeldt & Co. called the stone
The Star of South Africa and sent
II in the mail steamer Celt to London
under 100000 insurance. There it