The Florence daily tribune., 1899-04-11
out of keeping with the value of the

jewel entirely
Before takine any other steps miss,
it will be necessary for You to 90 with
ME to the chief of police and explain in
what manner the pearl came into your
possession
Her eyes darted fire. And il | re-
fuse TO do itr' she exclaimed passion
ately
,"Your refusal would compel me to
call in policemen. | rejoined dryly.
.'All right. she said; II go along
with you. if this is the custom in vi
emma when storekeepers are dealing
with their customers. Please call car
riage.
lyon must pardon me. | said apol-
oyetically. "but this is really an ex-
traordinary case. A jewel of such val
ne
IAN right, but whatever you do
you do at your risk. "
The girl appeared to me entirely
above suspicion and to be quick witted.
A long acquaintance with crooks of all
kinds permits me to quickly distinguish
between the hypocrite and the honora-
BILE and | was indeed not mistaken in
my diagnosis Arriving at police head
quarters. she was asked who she was.
VIII nee she came and whence the pearl
She gave her name and residence. Her
father. she stated had at his death be-
queathed her modest pawnbroker shop
in II small country town. which had
often been visited by young farmer.
who had pawned various articles with
her He was very poor. she said. One
day she accidentally passed near his
miserable hut and heard noise in the
yard Well knowing the man, she en-
tered and learned that all his posses
sions were being distrained for a debt
of IS tlorins. Tho young man called her
aside. secretly showed her the pearl and
asked for loan of 30 florins on it TO
puy the debt. He said the pearl was an
old keepsake with which he parted most
unwillingly, Moved rather by pity than
by the value of the collateral, she ad-
vanced the sum desired. although she
knew from general experience that if
the pearl was gen zine it must be quite
itation only. Ii is barely worth while
to add other data. The telegraph was
called into rcquisition and the truth of
her statement established.
The history of the pearl was Ms fol
lows The father of the Young farmer
had boon chamber valet of Cou ;
Louis Eatthanyi, the minister preside
of the revolutionary government Of
Hungary. i'll 1913. The count wore tha
pearl as "A cravat pin, and few hours
before his death-as is known he was
shot in Pest by order of a military
court martinl-he presented it to his
faithful servant. who under no cir
cumstances Yer parted with it At his
death his son took the pearl out of the
setting. which he sold, keeping the
pearl and parting from it as recited.
The pearl itself had been stolen about
100 years ago out of the English crown
which had contained three of them
Two large diamonds went with it at
the same time The English govern.
ment had been looking for it for l5'
years. but to no avail Nothing was
ever heard of it until this accident. In
what manner it driftcd into Count Bat
thanyis po session will doubtless re.
main sec 1t forever He had most
probably bought it of some antiquarian
The English government redeemed
the pearl. paying for it the offered re.
ward of g.. 500, handsome sum
which the girl divided with the farm
er--but not divided. because the his
tory of the pearl says that the two con
cluded to keep the money together
best done by getting married.
Yes, added my gray haired inform
ant, many jewels and pearls have
had their eventful history, and duIin'
the many years that l have been en-
gagged in dealing in precious stones a
good many of their ups and downs and
mishaps- theft. arson. murder and al
the crimes ON the statute books-have
come to my knowledge. l propose to
write book about these adventures
sooner or later. and l assure you it will
contain entertaining and startling read.
ing matter Jewellers Circular
Z