The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1904-03-17


50 long as 1t exists
Having uttered these parting
words. Simon. with trembling limbs
and bowed head. was led away
For time Diomedes gazed at the
silver piece rs it lay glitterins upon
the stones ut his feet.
AN uncanny tale, he muttefed'
surely disease and misfortune nave
caused the old Jews mind to WANDER.
| But tbs story fascinates me strange
ly. | will preserve the piece. ana the
tale | will tell at the feasts. In PROOF
of the coin | will have it marked ac-
| cording to the Jews story.
Take the COIN he said to an at
tendant Have The Price of Blood cut
deep upon its face and the marking
laid in with copper
This was done according to Diome-
des' orders. and the coin bearing the
Latin letters 2. S.-Pretium Sanguinls
was placed in his strong box.
The stone panels then went on to
tell how Diomedes related the story OF
the old Hebrew slave to his friends,
how the wine and then the coin was
passed from one to another as they
sat about the board, and how the
host, sitting at the head Of his table.
told with that old Roman taste for
rhetoric and elocution, the story, word
for word as Simon has done.
Next the inscription told OF a rich
feast which Domedes was preparing
for his friends 1t was in commem~
Grafton of great Roman victory, and
as this Old Pompeiian was as, much a
politician rs he was a plutoerat, the
entertainment was to be. worthy of
both guests and host. COuriers bear
ing messages of welcome Were dis
patched, and guests came, until a
dozen of the eminent men Of the day
were. gathered at Diomedes' villa.
Here the written record ceases
not, however the narrative for there
was much more to write. What DiO-
medes failed to do was left for others;
left for those who lived eighteen hum
dred years later, for the day Of the
great feast was the twenty-fourth OF
| August, A.. ID. 20. 1t was on this day
that Vesuvius awakened from leth-
argy of centuries to bury Pompeii
In the gorgeous banquet hall Of
Diomedes the feast went on. Twelve
men reclined about the table. They
dined as they never had before and
| never would again. AS the wine jars
were passed again and again the story
was asked for, and the coin was passed
| with the wine.
when pick and shovel brought this
hall to light, there We're the twelve
skeletons AT the head of the table
was the host, and, in his boHy fingers
| was tightly clasped- the Judas coin.
There it lay cleaning as brightly as it
did when Simon least 1t at Diomedes'
| feet centuries before.
MY work was over. The reward Of
years of patient study was before me.
had but to unclasp that skeleton
hand, and the most precious relic the
world contained was mine. As it was,
stood there for a time, powerless to
move. Mine had been a triumph over
| time, but could / also triumph over
the coins fatefnl history which Diome-
| DIES had recorded so well?
Il dreaded TO touch it and yet could
| not resist The power which had urg-
ed me forward through the years of
my work, now held me as if in wise.
| The instincts of a better nature and
| of better self rbades me destroy it,
but | was powerless to heed the warn
ing. s'4.,
1T was thus that for a time the coin
| became mine.
There is little more to tell. l took
the piece to my lodgings and resolved
that within the week would leave
Pompel. The night following, l was
robbed by a trusted workman who had
been in my employ, and among other
valuables the coin was taken. He,
poor devil, knew nothing Of its history,
its value, nor its curse. A few days
later his body was found stiff and
cold on the seashore, asfew miles from
my lodgings. He had been stabbed to
death with dagger which still lay
sheathed in his cold flesh. HE nr his
turn had been robbed. and the coin
was among the missing pieces.
With these words Carringford sank
back in his chair exhausted
AS for-my own feelings, viii not
attempt a description. | only know
that he possessed the power Of ear
rying me along with his quiet, pathetic
oratory, imbued as it was with an
earnestness which of itself was lr-
| resistible - 80
For many minutes. Carringford was
| silent I attempted to speak;sAbut it
seemed impossible for me to break
in upon his chain OF thought. In sheer
desperation L at last pressed the cleo.
trio button and the porter opened the
door. | gave an order In a low tone.
at the same time placing a,biH In his
hands When he had left the; com.
partment upon my, errand and the
room was once more silent, Caring.
ford said in low tone, more to him.
| self than to me:
Il was years ago that that poor
fellow was murderer in -Pompei,
though it seems butt yesterday. For
all these, years that coin had been !
know not Where's No one knowing its
history, no one will destroy it. = Up
and down the world 1t will 60, here
there, and everywhere, spreading lin.
| told misery as 1t moves from place Ia