The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-01-02
Vol. XV.-No. "a.
THE BUDDHA KHAN.
A ROMANCE OF A
DIAMOND.

E FIRST saw the light ninety
r centuries ago. [ say, he, be-
cause L actually believe it has
soul; or at least that it COM
prehends the doings of mankind. 1t is
of the Buddha Khan L am speaking
high caste diamond. If should tell
you how many carats he weighs you
would scarcely believe your ears.
A vast upheayal of natural forces in
the southern hemisphere gave birth to
the Buddha Khan. He slept beneath
the sod for ninety centuries and then
black Kaffir boy dug him up. This
was in the Cape COlony-some years
ago. OF course the Kaffir boy nearly
went crazy over his great find. He
screamed with delight and ran with it
to white man whom he called "Baas."
Then the other white men gathered
around and unanimously pronounced
1T "the finest stone that ever came out
of the Rand" Then he was sent to
"Capetown.
A little Dutchman from Amsterdam,
who wore huge spectacles and absorbed
vast quantities of snuff, was se4ectee.-
to do the cutting. He did it we'll and
when the Buddha Khan was finished
he was superb gem. From Capetown
the Buddha Khan went to Calcutta
and was bought by an Indian merchant
for many rupees. The merchant was
devout Buddhist, hence the name
Buddha Khan.
Sometime after this a Nepaulese
nabOb passed through Calcutta and
saw the jewel. When he returned
home he told the maharajah of it. The
maharajah longed to possess it, and
after sundry negotiations secured it.
He presented it to his favorite wife
he only had three-who was dream
of beauty, that passionate dark beauty
of the south, which if you once see you
will never forget. She was also a
princess. So the Buddha Khan and the
little Napaulese princess abode many
days together. And they came to love
each other very much, this fair jewel
and this fair woman. No, this is not
nonsense, jewel can love, and do not
think otherwise. Sometimes she would
fasten him in the dark locks of her
perfumed hair as she walked in the
palace garden at eventide, and then
they both listened to the distant song
of the sunset temple bells or the music
of the birds among the foliage. They
inhaled the fragrance of countless
beautiful flowers, waited on the cool
sweet wind from the Himalayas, and
whispered secrets to each other; he of
the awful mysteries of the centuries
past, she of the beautiful things of the
present and her love for them. For
she had no past to think of. But he
was old, very old, as men reckon time,
but young, quite young, for diamond.
Their two careers had just begun.
All this was idyllic, but the end came,
as the end always does come to earthly
happiness. One day there came war.
War is thing that you hardly under
stand; it rises up from nowhere in
particular and after tearing around,
burning houses and destroying grain
fields, it goes away again, to the place
1t came from, and leaves a lot of
eorpses to bury and crippIes to care
for; and you feel quite dazed and
wonder what it all means. Such is war.
so the war came; the sahibs who rule
the south country demanded certain
things of our Nepaul maharajah and
ne was not disposed to comply with the
demand. So they sent up many
soldiers and machine gnns to stalk to
the 'eathen king"
But the heathens objected to these