The San Francisco call., 1913-11-06

FABULOUS WEALTH
Philip felt his face growing pale.
That dirty-white. small stone worth
hundreds of pounds, Yet in his pocket
he had 29 other specimens, many of
them much larger than the one
chosen haphazard for inspection. and
in the back yard of his tenement lay
heaps of them, scattered about the
pavement like hailstones after a
shower, while the meteor itself was
compact mass OF them. He be-
came somewhat faint. and leaned
against the glass case that sur
mounted the counter.
rs that really true?" was all he
could say.
The expert valuer of diamonds
smiled. His first impulse was to send
for the police. but he knew that me-
teoric diamonds did fall to earth occa-
sionally, and he believed the boys
story Moreover, the thing was such
a rarity and of such value that the
holder must be fully able to account
for its possession before he could
dispose of it. So his tone was not
unkindly as he replied
1T is quite true, but II you want
to ascertain its exact value you should
go to a Hatton garden merchant. and
fair offer 1t has to be cut and pol
ished. you know, before it becomes
salable, and / must warn you that
most rigid inquiry will be made as to
how it came into your hands.
@It fell from heaven" was the
wholly unexpected answer, for Philip
was shaken and hardly a master of
his faculties.
yes, yes. I know. Personally, /
believe you, or you would be in GUS
tody at this moment. Take 1t to
Messrs. Isaacstein & Co, Hatton gar
den. Say l sent you-Mr. Wilson Is
my name-and make your best terms
with Mr.. Isaacstein. He will treat
you quite fairly. But, again, be sure
and tell the truth, as he will investi-
gate your story fully before he is
satisfied as to its accuracy.
Philip. walking through dreamland,
Quilted the shop. He mingled with
the jostling crowd and drifted into
harrington road.
"a diamond-worth hundreds of
"Then what is the whole meteor
worth, and what am I worth?"
IsAACSTEIN
The keen. strong March wind soon
blew the clouds from his brain. He
did not hurry toward Hatton garden.
He sauntered, rather, with his right
hand clenched on the tiny parcel In
his pocket, the parcel which had sud-
denly been endowed with such magic
potentialities. It was the instinct to
guard a treasure of great value that
led to this involuntary action. He
was preoccupied, disturbed, vaguely
striving to grasp vision that seemed
n alt rnnnrab Qncinn-
What did 1t all mean? Was it
really possible that he, Philip Anson.
orphaned beggared, practically a
starving tramp, should have the riches
of Golconda showered upon him in
this mad fashion? If the small stone
he had shown to the jeweler were
worth hundreds, then some of those
in the paper were worth thousands,
while, as for the stone in the back
yard of his house-well, imagination
boggled at the effort to appraise 1t.
! The thought begot a sense of eau
| tion, of reserve, of well reasoned de-
| termination not to reveal his secret
| to anybody. Perhaps 1t would be
best not to take Messrs. Isaacstein
& Co. wholly into his confidence.
He would simply show them the
stone he had exhibited to Mr.. Wilson
and take the best price they offered.
| Then, with the money in his posses
sion, he could effect much needed
| change in his appearance, visit them
again and gradually increase his sup
ply of diamonds until he had obtained
more money than he could possibly
spend during many years.
Above all else was 1t necessary
that his meteor should be removed tc
a safer place than Johnson's News
! Philin had no scruples about apprO-
priating it. Lords of the manor and
crown rights he had never heard OF.
His mother, watching his every ac.
tion from some Elysian height, had
sent the diamond loaded messenger al