Bridgeton pioneer., 1908-01-09
A Hiding Place.
IOrigin

"4bat Won wish my daughter to wife.
Well, will give her to you on one
condition. Listen.
some day more than three years ago
a man came to my house with an un-
cut diamond, which / bought from
him for a song. / believe the stone to
be of enormous value, but here In this
little town of Asia Minor it Is worth
less because there is no one who has
the means with which to purchase II.
Indeed, its real value could not be OBJ
tanned unless by sale to some crown
ed head. To sell 1t at all 1t must hrst
be taken to Amsterdam, in Holland,
the only place where they know how
to cut a diamond without spelling 1t.
From there the nearest capital Is Par
is. next London, next Berlin, next Vi
emma, next st. Petersburg. In one OF
these capitals the diamond may be
sold. But to get 1t any distance what
ever is we'll nigh impossible. Every
country is infested with robbers, and
one carrying any article Of value
would be sure to be relieved Of 1t.
'If you succeed in getting the dia.
mond to Amsterdam, have it cut and
sell it for a fair price, l will not only
give you my daughter to wed, but will
give you half the price received. Be-
sides. am old, and my daughter win
inherit the other half. give you a
chance"
In a week Gabriel went to Da-
dourian and announced that he would
accept the conditions. Dadourian
gave him the diamond, about the size
of a hazelnut, and he carried 1t away
with him.
"When do you think you will be
ready to set out?" asked Dadourian
as Gabriel was leaving.
"In two or three months"
1.-TWO or three months?. Why delay
80 longY
"T am going to sell your diamond,
but will answer no questions"
It was ten weeks after this before
Gabriel departed. He was dressed
like any well to do traveller, but car
ried no weapon for defense. On his
back he bore pack containing O
few clothes, which were principally
changes Of linen; in his hand staff.
He had not been out six hours before
he was stopped by band Of robbers.
"Please hand over the diamond"
said the chief.
"What diamondY' asked Gabriel, as
tonished.
"Don't look surprised. You are the
third man Dadourian has sent forth on
this mission. He gave them each a
crystal, his object being to discover a
way to get his diamond to market.
Probably he has given you the real
stone, since you are to marry his
daughter"
Now, Gabriel had taken pains to as
sure himself that the stone he bore
was genuine and of great value. He
told the robbers that they were well
come to search him, and they did. Ev.
cry article Of clothing in his pack and
on his person was searched. He was
stripped naked, and his body, his hair,
AlS DCdlO, WClC CAdlhlACo
The soles and heels of his boots were
ripped up, and his staff was split into
dozen pieces. Lastly the robbers gave
him an emetic, which brought up ev-
erything on his stomach. All in vain:
no stone was found. Reluctantly the
bandits gave up the search, for they
had felt certain that he bore the
treasure
II should have known" said the chief,
''that shrewd old Dadourlan would
not have sent his daughters lover on
such an errand."
Gabriel was permitted to proceed,
but several Of the band were dis
patched by another road to head him
off and see if he did not receive the
diamond from some other person. They
intercepted him two days later and
made another search, but nothing was
found. However, they concluded to
hold him till they could hear from theif
captain, who returned an order to let
him go on. The captain would send a
man to personate a traveller to join
Gabriel and watch him with a view
to discovering whether he received the
treasure on the road.
Several days later Gabriel was over.
taken by merry man, who made him.
self very agreeable, asking Gabriel to
stop at an inn and drink a bottle Of
wine. Gabriel, though he suspected
the man, accepted his invitation, and
they journeyed on together. The
stranger told him that he carried a
treasure and discussed with him the
best means of concealment. But Ga.
briel was not such fool as to give
away his secret, and the man got moth.
Ing out Of him. One night when
Gabriel was asleep his companion
drugged him and made as thorough a
search as the robbers had made; but,
finding nothing, he left him before he
awoke and returned to his chief. re-
porting that Gabriel had no diamond
and was probably sent out as a blind
to draw attention from the real mes
senger.
This ended the search for the dia.
mond. Gabriel was stopped again