The daily Alaskan., 1905-05-16
ROMANCE OF
 A DIAMOND
IOrlglnaLl

fashion, Tor tune l Shone m many scene of social splendor. One night after she had come home from a sup per, having drunk too much wine, she left me on her dressing table Instead of putting me in her safe, as was her custom. One of the servants took me and buried me in the earth till the ex- citement attending my disappearance had blown over, when l found a habi- tation in a pawnshop. Sold at auction, I was bought by manufacturer of curios and set in the hilt of a MoorlSh dagger. A nObleman bought me, and I hung for years on the wall of his libra ". One night he took down the dagger which adorned and, going upstairs with 1t, plunged 1t into the heart of his sleeping wife.
 The murderer died of rcmorSe. He was never suspected of the crime. l was sold with his effects and placed in the center of a gold cross being made for a bishop. He wore me suSpended from his neck, but he seemed tO be Ill at ease at my touch and one day threw the cross on the floor, tramplng on it, exclaiming that he believed it was ac- cursed. Then, picking it up, he laid it reverently in his bureau drawer as if remorseful at having committed sac rilege. But he never wore the cross again, and in time was taken out of 1t, sold to a manufacturer of iewelry and set in a bracelet formed to repre- sent a serpent. with a mate forming the eyes. The bracelet was purchased by celebrated actress. With her l learned how little of real romance there Is in its portrayal In her cramped dressing room, that looked like a paint shop, she would clasp her bracelet on her wrist and pass to the wings, only the unadorned backs of which could see. waiting tO be called. One evening the call boy neglected her, whereupon she boxed his ears in a it of temper, then went on to the stage to personate pure and noble woman struggling with a stage plot.
 When I passed from her l found my self in box with many other jewels and was put into the hands of an artif- icer and by him worked into a kings crown. The crown finished, it was talk en to a cathedral. where it was left all night under guard. The next morning the cathedral began to fill with peo- pie in splendid attire. and when it was full the king came. After ceremony an archbishop took up the crown and placed 1t on the kings head. Then all we jewels glistened and sparkled and scintillated before the assembled throng.
 In the crown remained many years, and this was the most tireSOme part of my life. This is so with many nor tals. The higher they mount in splen- dor and power the more they are cut of from those simple enjoymentS that ordinary people may have in abun- dance. A revolution occurred in the kingdom, and one day mob attacked the palace where the crown was kept, and 1t was carried into the street. There 1t was trampled upon by an ih- furiated people, and when it was picked up I had fallen out and lay in the gutter unnoticed. A rain came and washed me Into a sewer. It was months before l came to light again and then only after a great flood, dur ing which I was washed out of the mouth of the sewer on to a sandy tract where the tide rose and fell. Success sive tides washed me up the beach, where lay on the side of dune look Ing out on the ocean. There l rested amid delightful surroundings. I loved the passing ships, the circling gulls and. more than all, the plash of the waves.
 One day a young man came and sat down on the dune beside me He looked out on the waves. and from what he said l knew lc was a poet He posscSsCl not only manly beauty, but an appearance Of parity. AS he framed his verses he gr1spcl the sand In his hanl and lei it slip through his fingers was with the s;nl he ,rlspcd, aud as | dil not slip through nc looked at me. Tho sun was shining and sparklel my best, for l wished to attract his attention. AS soon as he saw me he exclaimed: "A diamond. !. How Eelcu will prize ltr'
 He took me to modest house some distance back from the beach and, on tcring. asked if Helen was at home, A young girl came down with a glad look in her eye that had never seen m any eye before. He took her In his arms and kissed her.
 Helen" he sali, while lounging on the beach awhile ago l found some thing which will make you happy, Look"
 He produced me. and, lying in the hollow of her hand, I flashed ID Into her Innocent eyes
 How beautifulv she exclaimed, But surely it must have an owner We have no right to keep it."
 True. We will advertise 1t and re turn 1t. But the claimant must prove that 1t Is his"
 Well, they advertised me and I had many claimants, but no one could prove his ownership, and none knew that I had been in a klngly crown. Then the young man had me set In a
 a-H Han.