The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-11-14
B, AllllARD NlALTBE

D AmlARD MALTnE
How | found thS cslsbrated lmpssal
tof diamond dos not pertain sspSctSi-
~ = this story, but where / found II
y important, for my effort TO get II
away from the region where II had
lain ever since q lump Of pure carbon
was crystallized and became u gem %
big 40 . walnut IL what l am going U
tell you about. When was q young
ster | a away from home and b few
weeks later found myself in the prov
ince Of Minas Geraes, In Brazil. where
the diamond mines are. ! worked In
the mines for i've years and couldn't
very well do that without learning
something about diamonds.
One Sunday l was out on q tramp
and. stopping to rest. noticed near ma
q stone that it struck me looked ike =
diamond in the rough. l took It up to
examine It and found 1t exactly like
the uncut stones ! had dug up for the
diamond company. only I had never
seen one half the size. was q good
deal upset. for II the thing was q dia-
mond l was rich.
But. 10 / have said. It was the get
ting away with It that I'm going to tell
about. It was q diamond. sure enough,
and one Of the big ones OF the world.
While | was looking at it Jim Stivers
came up, and l was fool enough to let
him see It. He knew right OF that It
was worth the biggest part of a mil
lion dollars. and a stone like that b
a great temptation for any one. He
congratulated me on my find and be-
gan at once to plot to get 1t from me.
Jim had more sense than l In this.
He didn't tell any n about my hav-
ing it except three men whom he used
to get It away from me. He knew /
would 60 to Rio with. it. and his plan
was to have me waylaid and the stone
captured.
OF course I didn't know Just what
he would do. but l did know that once
! got out Of the region Of law and or
der-in other words. on by myself
somebody would try for my property.
I concluded to endeavor to fool who
ever suspected I had it with me BY
playing a part. The plan l adopted
wa this: found a countryman who
was going down with a load Of wood
and told him | would 60 with him. HI
said he was agreeable. and | slept the
night before we started near his
wagon. which was already loaded.
During the night I took n Of the
logs-one that I would recognize easily
land. boring a big hole In it under I
piece Of loose bark. put my diamond in
Il Then. plugging up the hole, I let
down the bark. 6rst putting q little
glue between It and the wood to hold
it in place. Then ] threw the log back
on TO the load:
We started early In the morning. and
I. not wishing TO be identified with the
wocdman. at times kept In his rear
and at times In advance of him. Al
though ! hadn't told any one | was
going IN the trip. l found the road
picketed. | passed q man who looked
at me searchingly. and 1t wasn't long
before. hearing footsteps behind me. I
turned and saw him coming with two
others. They caught up with me, and
one Of them. who knew me by sight.
said. That's the man." and. address
ing me. added:
Young Teller. the diamond company
has missed q valuable uncut stone
and. having been Informed that It IL in
your possession. has sem us to de-
mand It Of You. Please hand It out"
II haven't any diamond" | replied.
I'm as poor 10 poverty and don't know
where I shall get 4 bite to eat
They didn't waste any words. but
two Of them held me while the third
went through my pockets. my hair.
my beard-indeed. every part Of me.
Then he took on my clothes. leaving
me stark naked, ana examined every
seam. every inch Of cloth. even hold
Ing them up and looking through them
to the light.
II reckon he has either sent It on
ahead or left Il behind to come later"
said the man who had done the search
Ing. All would have gone well had
not the w~oodcutter's wagon come
numbering down the road and be had
to ask me IN q familiar way what my
appearing In my birthday clothes
meant. The men pricked up their ears
at this and asked him II be knew me.
and " told them that we were tellow
travellers.
He rot = thqyOugh searching Tor bis
palms, the snen thinktnks that ~ was
carryinx the gem Tor me Then they
:examined the horses. the harness the
waaon, lo0ltng even into the hubs of
tltewheels One of them suggested
that gWhatsfhey were looking Tor might