The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1915-06-04

set knitting his eyebrows and
twisting his beard. When l
had done he repeated after me two
of the questions which the chief jug
gler had put to the boy, seemingly for
the purpose of fixing them we'll in his
mind.
"Is it on the road to this house, and
on no other, that the English gentle
man will pass by us today" Has the
English gentleman got it about him."
suspect" says Mr.. franklin. pulling
a little sealed paper parcel out of his
pocket, that it means this. And
this Betteredge, means my uncle
Herncastle's famous diamond
Good Lord, sir l broke out, chow
do you come to be in charge of the
wicked coloncl's diamond:'
THE wicked colonel's will has left
his diamond as a birthday present to
my cousin Rachel" says Mr.. Franklin.
And my father, as the wicked colo
nel's executor. has given it in charge
to nc to bring down here
"Tlle colonel's diamond left to Miss
RACHEL" says l.. and your father,
sir. the coloncl's executors. Why, |
would have laid any bet you like, Mr..
Franklin, that your father wouldn't
have touched the colonel with a pair
of tongs."
I spoke. Il little way back, of my
lady's father. the old lord with the
short temper and tho long tongue. He
had five children in MI. Two SONS to
begin With and the three young ladies
came briskly one after the other. as
fast as the nature of things would per-
nit, my mistress, rs before mentioned,
being the youngest and best of the
three. OF the two SONS the eldest, Az
thur. inherited the title II estates,
The second, the Honorable John, got 4
fine fortune left him by Il relative and
Went into the army.
It's IN i'll bird, they say. that fouls
its own nest. | look on the noble fami.
ly of the H~crncastlcs as being my nest
and | shall take it as a favor if l am
not expected to enter into particulars
on the subject of the Honorable John
He was, l honestly believe, one OF the
greatest blackguarGs that ever lived
! can hardly say more or less for hin
thar that. He Went into the army, be
ginning in the guards. He had to leave
the guards before he was two an(
twenty. Never mind why. They arr
very strict in the army, and they were
too strict for the Honorable John. Ill
went out to India to see whether the.
were equally strict there and to IT,.
a little active service. In the matte
of bravery, to give him his due. he WA
a mixture of bulldog and gamecock
with II dash of the savage. He was Il
the taking of ~Seringapatam. 500
afterward he changed into another reg
inent and in curse of time changes
again into Il third. In the third he 60
his last step as lieutenant colonel an(
getting that. got also Il sunstroke an
came home to England.
He came back with Il character tina
closed the doors of all his famil
against him, my lady, then just NAL
rieu, taking the lead. and declarin!
With Sir Johns approval, of course
that her brother should never ente
any house of hers. There was MOI
than one slur on the colonel that mad
people shy of him, but h blot of tt
diamond is all | need mention here.
1t was said he had got possession
his Indian jewel by lea which. Dol
as he was, he didn't dare acknowledg
He never attempted to sell it, not b
ing in need of any money and not.
give him his due again. making none
an object. He eve gave it away;
never even showed it to any livil