The Washington times., 1906-01-07
co ! 81 b r d !. sV7k Fl


tween lis teeth. before he passed il
on II went from hand TO hand. never
Out Of sight 50 far as l could notice,
until il came TO Sir Andrew Carlton.
who fancies himself an expert on
gems. They say that when Lady Car
Hon is in the stalls. the play Is I'm
ished 10 the women sitting behind her,
for they can't keep their eyes of her
Pearls. Sir Andrew pulled out mag
nifying glass. and began examining
the diamond.
- congra tulate you, Taubery. he
said. after about a minute. You have
acquired a historical stone
.Old julius leant back, with smile
half way round his head, but he didn't
say word.
This stone said Sir Andrew. IN
the heavy. pOmpous way that he has,
tapping ii with his magnifying glass
10 attract attention. this stone is the
celebrated HydeTapore diamond, To
which first historical reference is made
in the year 1884. II was captured by
the aiah OF Hyderap0re from ruling
chief in the Deccan after a battle, IN
which 4.U00 men lost their lives. In
1880 IL was stolen from the rajahs pal
ace by a Spaniard, who escaped 10
Bombay, where he was robbed and
murdered The stone disappeared fol-
about sixty years.
" II subsequently came into the pos
session OF one of the East India COM
pany's agents. who was stabbed 10
death in his bungalow near Calcutta
about I7G0. The diamond, which is held
TO have inspired the attack. was saved
from the robbers by the appearance OF
his guests and servants The widow
brought it 10 Europe and sold it 10 the
Due d'Alembert. who lost his diamond
and incidentally his life in the French
revolution II turned up again at the
Court Of Napoleon III. being then in
the possession of Henri Marvin, the
well-known fnancier Until today /
thought il was still in his family.
1T is one of the very few large dia-
monds that is absolutely without flaw,
and its value in the open market to-
day would be approaching Eo00 600 Any
one who takes an interest in historical
stones might be tempted TO give even
a higher price: for there has been
enough blood split over it. gentlemen.
10 fill the bath of its fortunate posses
SOr'
'He laid down the diamond on the
table and looked at his host with
malicious grin. But all connoisseurs
are alike; they are as covetous Of
each others pet treasures as so many
eats.
"All the time that Sir Andrew had
been speaking, the fat fellow next 10
me had been snOrting and swelling
until pom my soul. / thought he was
in for a stroke of apOpleXy. I am the
tempered of men, but I have my
limits. and the old grampus was one
Of them.
Are you IN pain. sir?' asked him.
Yes, l am, sir ne said. in such
a high. squeaky voice that all the
table could hear him. L object to
listening TO the definitions Of so-call-
ed experts. who cannot tell a diamond
from glass marble. Experts? Hum
bugs. that's what 1 call themT
Do you refer To me, Prof. Endi-
COtt2' began Sir Andrew leaning for
ward. with a very red face.
Most cetraiD,v ] do
Then / must ask you for an ex-
PLANTATION or an immediate apology
A man who can make so ludicrOus
an error deserves neither the one nor
the other cried the professor. in
great excitement. That stone has
DFtn III the pbSSGSSiOl u tAat iI1AtE
of Pavaloff for 800 years. Prince
Peter, the present head of the family.
kindly allowed me to examine il when
l was at Moscow in 1894. / was not
aware that he had sold il, 7 trust, Mr..
Taubery. that you obtained it from
respectable source; If not. l should be
no true friend did / hide from you my
belief that it has been stolen
If a man had said such deucedly
insulting thing TO me / should have
knocked him down there and then. !
would ION my soul. without thinking
more about il. But julius lay back
In his chair, smiling all over his face.
I suppose those collectors get accus-
toned to each others little wa, s.
they're a queer lot, anyway.
You can be quite easy on that point,
Prof. E19icotL' he said Prince Peter
was, unfortunately, involved in tine
late Dolorouski conspiracy, but had
time to slip across the Russian frontier
before the police could arrest him.
bought the diamond from his agent in
Paris
You interest me deeply, Mr. TAU
berry struck in Sir Andrew, speaking
very softly. though we could all see
he was in a devil of a rage. Even /
was not unaware Of the existence OF
the Pavalon diamond. If my memory
does not fail me. it is slightly disfig-
ured hy a flaw ON the eighth faCet2'
a. Certainly. Sir Andrew said our
host; IF you examine the stone you
viii see that such is the case
There is no such blemish on the
diamond I have before me. Therefore
/ humbly suggest that you have been
deceived by this Partisan agent as TO
its origin.
prof. Endicott climbed to his feet.
with a grunt of dissatisfaction, and
leant over the table, thrustin~ out his
podgy fist to receive the jewel. He
remained standing. with his body
swayed forward. so that the electric
lights above the silver centerpiece
might shine the brighter upon what
he held. Presently he dropped his
hands TO his sides and stood staring