The Elbert County tribune., 1911-11-03

We'll. you see. swami" said Britz.
everything pertaining to that Illus
trious land Of yours is OF interest to
Americans; your religion, your poll
tics. your customs. your women. your
jewels. your boundless wealth. Every
thing you can tell me about India is
sure to interest our readers
IF am to tell you everything
about India" said the Swami. I'VE
may as we'll make ourselves comfort
able
He signed to All again, and. rising
with much dignity. he placed chair
at the disposal of his visitor.
The East Is pretty big subject"
said the Swami, and then he spent
many minutes sketching Oriental
ment of his visitor. To follow him
would be to recapitulate the history
OF Hindostan from centuries before
the British invasion. When he had
finished. Britz knew enough about In
dia to fill the pages OF all the Sunday
papers OF New York; but this was not
what the detective wanted.
Your women evidently lead pret-
ty secluded life." he said. but sup
their music, embroidery. delicacies.
gems-by the way. Swami. jewels fig
ure largely In your religion. don't
they?
The same inscrutable CLEAN again
fiickered In the eyes of the scholar.
TT would be difficult to make you
understand In what way they do" he
answered in the ordinary commer-
cial sense, they do not. We Of India
care less for the intrinsic value of the
beautiful jewels which you OF the
West characterize as precious stones.
They are precious to us, but in DIFF
ferent way We lovs them for their
loveliness-not merely for their brill
lance and cost. To us, there is a
world OF metaphysical meaning In the
lambent glow OF ruby. or the i'm
prisoned rainbow OF diamond. An
emerald to US is the spirit of the sea
tho spirit of the water itself; just
as the pearl suggests that other world
on the floor of the deep. Jewels. as
we see them, are the crystallized ex-
preston OF divine emotions Diamonds
are the tears OF Buddha-pearls SO
many drops of wisdom from his lips.
and sapphires the heavenly aspira-
tions OF his thoughts What to the
Occldent means profit. to us means
| poetry"
Some of your jewels are. dare
say, great deal more important than
others; for example. the Kohinoor.
Has that no larger value than the or
dinary stone In your eyes7"
only so far as 1t is connected with
the traditions OF our faith" said the
Swami. Diamonds there are In In
dia. one hundred of which would not
make Kohinoor. yet each thou
sand times more precious to true be-
levers. Wars have been fought.
races exterminated for gems less beau
tiful than those which many of the
minor women of your public stage can
boast. They have meaning impos-
sible of comprehension to the Western
mind"
And do Hindoos OF your generation
set as much store by that sort OF
thing as your ancestors did?" asked
Britz.
"The faith of the East is immut-
able" the Swami replied. Centuries
roll by. but we change not. Nations
have broken themselves to shreds In
efforts to shake the stability OF our
land and people. What was true be-
fore your Prophet left the carpenters
hepch Ia frua to-day"
Now. do you know" said Britz. vi
vaciously, all this interests me very
much, and will make cracking good
story for The Times Fancy a whole
people-how many millions did you
say?-so wrapped up In gems that
would not fill showcase in a Maiden
Lane jewelry shop, that they are will
Ing to sacrifice their very lives for
them,"
Britz threw all his skill as a ques-
toner into drawing from the Swami
descriptions Of the more famous jew
els of India, deftly keeping the line
of his interrogations on the subject
of diamonds. The Hindoo. his entire
personality an eloquent expression of
the Incidence OF the East. was alike
luxuriant In his narghileh and In rem
iniscences of the sacred gems that had
adorned the temples of his faith from
Delhi to Benares. Slowly, dreamily.
mystically. stories came from his lips
OF greed and piety. deeds OF daring
and romance. statecraft and intrigues.
until Britz became SO interested that
for time even his trained. vigilant
mind lost sight OF the purpose that
had animated all his actions since the
day he learned that the famous Mis-
sioner necklace was missing
When the Fastener ended his string
of tales, many of them replicas In