The Washington herald., 1914-03-03
DAILY SHORT STORY.
MARRYING OFF CELIA.
~ CLAUDISE sIssON.

up a diamond
..By gosh and by thunder!"
!, In the kitchen door OF the farmhouse.
a quarter Of a mile away. stood a girl
OF twenty-celia Parsons Her mother
was within washing dishes at the sink.
Great coons. mother. come heres' ex-
claimed the girl
pad is coming for the house like
runaway horse!"
Land o. massy"'
The farmer was waving his hat and
making the dirt fly as he came. and as
he drew nearer he gasped out:
'Got II! Got it,
John Parsons. you are acting like
crazy man or a fool?' chided the wife
as he jumped over the last currant
bush
Dad. have you found that quarter you
lost three years agog'
"See-see there
He opened his nand and exhibited the
diamond. II was as big as one OF these
small eggs the trust has eoaxed the
hens into laying. II shone like a hogs
eye on a dark night.
what is it?' asked Celia as she took
II from him.
What Of it?' asked the mother as
she took It in turn and held ii TO her
nose.
.Its-It's a diamondr' hoarsely whis-
pered the finder.
John. you are crazyi"
Dad. you are fooling yourself!
Yes. IT'S diamond" he said as he
reache., for II and let the sun glance on
II. Its what they call a diamond in
the rough. and II 1t hain't wuth 100000
then I'll eat this old straw hat"
And you found II In the gravel?''
Right In the gravel. / dreamed OF
black rabbit last night. and when
woke up this morning / knew 1 should
have luck
All three were silent for a long minute,
and then the wife asked almost in
whisper:
BE we rich. John?''
We can't begin to count our money.
And what'n We dor
Well marry Celia to some rich man
the first thing"
But, dad, I'm going to marry Jim
Rathbone," announced the girl. We have
been engaged a whole year, and the we'd
ding day Is set
Then you'll unset it! Dye suppose
I'm goin' to let you marry old Seth
Travers' hired man when I'm wuth
million dollars
"Of course you will!'
Don't you go to believin any such
darned thing. This family hain't never
amounted to shucks thus fur. but it's
goin' to begin to now. The fust thing
I want is a son-in-Iaw that'1l do me
honor Thar's five or six young fellers
over to FowIervillc that'II come here on
the dead run soon as they hear Of
that diamond"
And they'll go away on the dead rum
replied Celia.
You leave it TO me to handle her."
whispered the mother. 1T won't be
three days before she'll be all right Jim
H. a good feller. but he'd be no husband
for a rich wife. He can't use grammar In
his talk and he'd walk right into the par
lOr with his boots all mud"
Sure. he would, and he'd be spittin'
his plug tobacco juice all over the tnOu-
sand dollar oil paintings. Jim has got TO
haul on
And what are you going to do first
thing?''
Drive to town and tell about this dia-
mond. Thar's nobody thar rich enough
to buy the smallest piece of It, but want
the news to get to New York and Boston
and Chicago. Then will come buyers
thicker'n fieas on a dog Get dinner as
quick as you can.
"oh. John. / hope il surely is a dia-
mond." sighed the wife
Don't you worry about that. ma I'm
not the sort OF a man that goes about
picking up pebbles and calling them jia-
monds.
Farmer Parsons didn't take his dia-
nond to town with him. He would take
no chances of being robbed. He drove
first to the jewelers.. and told Of his find.
II never heard of a diamond as dig as
that" said the man.
But they can be as big as turnIps,
can't they"
II don't see why not: but II you have
found diamond of any size. it's the FIRST
one ever picked up in the State"
lis diamond Of this size wuth
million dollars
Yes, ten of them
An hour later it was known all over
town that Farmer Parsons had found
a diamond worth millions, and people
were rushing to congratulate him. He
was also Cffered a cart load OF advice.
The town butcher also offered him $50
in cash and a barrel of salt pork Tor MS
find. The news went flying away, and
the farmer returned home with his hat
on his ear and a cent cigar between
his teeth. He had hidden his diamond
away in the oat bin in the barn, and
no one had stolen il.
That evening Jim Rathbone came court
ing. He had hardly entered the hcuse
when he saw that something had hap
pened He was about to ask what II
was when Mr.. Parsons queried of him:
Who did you wish to see?"
"why-why, Celia, Of course was
stammered-
shes upstairs and don't know
whether she is to be sawn or net She
may come down by and by" added the
mother.
Jim sat for four or five minutes shuf-
fling his feet
Look a-here. Parsons. if there is any
thing gone wrong why don't you tell
me?"
oh nothing wrong. MIR. Rathbcne-if
that's your name. l simply have TO tell
YOU that Celia is to marry a rich young
man."
THE devil she is, Mighty sudden
change Of mind. hain't itT
But all diamonds are found mighty
sudden, believe. l found one that way
today, and of course il has changed
things about. You must admit, sir. that
you are no fit mate for an heiress."
How do you know it's a diamond?
was asked.
How do l know spade from hoe
Let's see it."
NO one gets n sight OF IL unless he
has money to buy
Jim got up and left the house Outside
he found Celia waiting for him. and his
He was assured that II her father went
ahead and found three more diamonds.
each one as big as a goose egg, II would
not cause her to break her promise.
Jim" she said. ''old Mr.. Winters is
what they call a geologist. He can tell
whether Dads find is a piece Of crystal
raL La there