Puck — September 11, 1878 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

PUCK. 11 ° AN ENGLISHMAN ON AN AMERICAN THE LOST. DIAMONDS | for that matter, His attire was of the best I. “UNSTITUTION, | ewe f + | material and make, and scrupulously neat; and his neck-band was as white as driven snow. y is not generally P known that Sir John | of the jolliest fellows on the tolerably | Moreover, gold-rimmed spectacles and heavy be Lubbock, whose studies of the habits of | S24. long list of my acquaintance is Charles | seals depending from his watch-fob, gave him | S* ants shave made him famous, is equally | Filby; and though the wrong side of | not only a highly respectable appearance but | well informed about mosquitoes. sixty as to age, he yet is as genial and lively as | stamped him as wealthy withal. ‘That's to say, ee tk “ You see,” said the Baronet in his last lec- | many young men I wot of - livelier, in point of | 7 thought so. Well, up he marched to my eeelie ture, “I knew nothing about mosquitoes until | fact. I was seated with him after dinner, a few | counter with tolerably long strides, removed his ett my studies took me to New Jersey. ‘There 1 | evenings since, enjoying the fragrant weed in | hat (of the first quality), and placed it upon my alt found that the people of the bay-shore- perhaps as lovely a little retreat as the cye could | counter (his well-arranged silver-hair became well as of Staten Island—utilize these insects, | possibly wish to behold—namely a Devonshire | him immensely), and gave me a ‘good morn- When their children stay out late at night, the | garden; and noting my friend's brows, during | ing’ and a smile which was incalculably pleas- ai parents rise early, and follow the paths’ the | lull in our pleasant chat, become suddenly | ing and good to see, ‘This man is a Christian: a young people made in passing through the air | clouded, 1 offered him the meagre sum of a | goodness and gentleness beam on every feature, in the streets—the atmosphere being thick | penny for his thoughts. I mentally told myself. I put on my very best | with mosquitoes —and thus trace them back to | “You shall have them free, gratis, for no- | manner and politely asked him his pleasure. { the saloons or residences in which they spent | thing, my boy,” was the rejoinder. “Well, | ‘1 have been recommended to you, sir" the night. Burglars and erring husbands are | then, | was thinking of my lost diamonds, and | (he mentioned a firm with which I dealt largely tracked in the same way, | moreover what a capital present the like would | in the way of bar-silver). ‘I am given to un- .\\ “These mosquitoes are very small, and. are | make for your ‘ Darling Flossy "on her wedding | derstand,’ he continued, ‘ that you have a varied *Y only able to produce one or two notes of mu- | morn, Wouldn't her bright eyes sparkle, ch? | and very valuable selection of ladies’ diamond sic. ‘They fy in great swarms, and are found | Between you and me, Perey (and this is in | ornaments.’ ; in greater numbers where there are nettings in | strict, confidenc she may—-I say she mar “TL signified that such was really the case. the windows than in unprotected houses. It | have such a present, in spite of my long-ago |“ * Well,’ he proceeded, ‘1 am somewhat has been noticed that they worked by twos; | misfortune. I think the thing by no means im- | anxious, sir, to see and examine some of your one sings around the victim's head while the | possible. But 1 won't say who the donor will | possessions, “The fact is, my daughter—my other pierces the sheets and night-clothes and | be. O dear, no! Not by any means!” only daughter, sir, a pure, sweet-tempered child feasts upon the sullerer's thigh or calf, When |“ You're a good fellow, Kilby, Age hasn't | ~-is on the eve of marriage, and 1 (naturally, the feaster has had a meal he sings, and the | robbed you of warmth of heart and yenerous | you will say) am desirous of giving her a sub- hungry one feasts.” | feelings. Hut what about these lost diamonds | stantial wedding-present. Very good. Mind! By the water’s edge, between Pamrapo and | you were thinking of? I'm all impatience to |. want nothing gaudy; nor—pardon me, Mr. Bayonne, the Baronst, while hunting, was at- | learn the details, especially as secing our ac- | Filby—nor do I desire any artfully contrived tacked by a ferocious long-billed bird, into | quaintance has been of long standing, and this | specimen of the jeweler's art of deception. 1 i which he emptied four barrels of a navy- | is the first time I've heard you even mention | want something solid and substantial—articles revolver. It sang an operatic air while dying, | the matter.” that dood what they literally are—and I do not ‘The astonished naturalist brought it to the |“ For the best of all reasons, lerey —a man | mind how high I go as to price.’ | | nearest town, and there learned that it was an | doesn’t care to be laughed at fora greenhorn, |“ All this was fair and square, and above- ordinary Seven-Octave Swamp Mosquito (Gaé- | ‘The fact is, no Englishman likes to be done; | board. Undoubtedly my prospective customer, Jinipper Americanus). He had it put on ice, | and when he és, prefers keeping his grievance | though a clergyman, was moreover an excellent | { and would have embalmed it, but that night | to himself, rather than be laughed at for a | man of business, and one that wouldn't brook | | he became more familiar with the inse “that,” or get that kind of milk-and-water sym- | trifling. 1 made up my mind to acquiesce to It scems that eight of these intelligent crea- | pa hy which is as disgusting as it is insincere, | his every wish - and charge him as long a price tures had found themselves shut out of aslaugh- | However, I'll unbosom myself for once; and if | as ! reasonably could. ter-house where they usually took supper, and | you do elect to call me blockhead, I can’t] ‘1 placed before him several trays of gems | learning that a plump and rosy Englishman | help it. of exquisite workmanship, upon which I looked i (Sir John Lubbock) was stopping at the hotel, “You remember the time of the Crimea th pride, I expected, I must own, that my | they’ broke down his window-nettings, and as | war? Of course you do, though. Well, at that | customer would appear surprised, to say the | he was awakened by their noise, endeavored to | tine I held a tolerably long lease of my old shop | least, at the dazzling array. Not so, however. lull him to sleep with a concert of simple | in Barbican. And Barbican, as you know, used | And that’s to put it mildly; for when I uncov- | nursery songs, such as: to be, whatever it is now, not the least impor- | ered my goods and looked at him with a self- faint tant street in London town, Ah, the gold and | satisfied look on my face, there was a look on | I smell the blood of an Englishmum,”” silver refining trade hen was in the zenith of its | 4/s which bore a semblance of indiffere ence, not { i Anxious to learn as much as possible, he lay | Prosperity; at that time you could buy cheap | to say disdain, ‘This nettled me somewhat} but still while they sucked almost dry the ex- | and sell dear; besides, the profit accruing from | on second thoughts I told myself that it was i posed upper side of his body. He says that | ready-made jewelry and precious stones was not | possible he, personally, did not care for the | t the interesting creatures acted in unison, by any means meagre. I did not, it is true, keep pomps and vanities of this world, though anxious | 5 “though without the guidance of any one in- much of a show in the window; but my cus- | to procure such commodities for his daughter, | i dividual mind; * for by-and-by they sang out: | tomers knew that I had a rare and valuable] “After careful examination, he selected a | i ‘Onetwothree, over he goes;” and over he | stock in drawers inside, and that was enough | pair of diamond ear-rings (cighty pounds); a i | vent, and they emptied his veins on the other | alike for me and them. diamond bracelet (two hundred pounds); a but- | | side. “Well, my lad, as I have before said, it was | terfly brooch—one mass of glitter and dazzle— | Sir John Lubbock says that a friend who | the time of the Crimean war. It was about, as and a half-hoop diamond ring (the two, one j slept in the adjoining room was killed by an- | Near as I can remember, cleven_ o'clock in the hundred and fifty-two pounds ten shillings). | other band of these knowing insects, who car- | morning of a bitterly cold day in December — | A tolerably good morning's work, you will say. ried the dead body of their victim out of the | 2Tuesday—when either the slush or the pierc- | We shall see. 2 | open window to the waterside, and threw him ing biting cold, or the leaden ominous sky that | “‘ Well! after I had fitted the trinkets to in, leaving his hat and one shoe on the shore | loomed overhead and threatened a snowstorm, | superior cases, and when I had packed them in just above high-water mark. ‘The learned Ba- kept people who had moncy by their fireside, | a8 small a compass as I well could, the reverend ronet says he does not doubt that the hundreds | oF.in bed: indeed few people of any kind were | gentleman felt in his pockets for the money of cases of hat and coat finding on the- Bay- | abroad, and all things outside were as gruesome | wherewith to pay me. He drew forth from his shore that fill the newspapers every year are ac- | and dispiriting as they well could be. 1 had breast-pocket a goodly-sized Russia-leather case, counted for in the same way. PF, | drawn near my counting-house fire, and was | and tenderly singling out some bank-notes and | looking into the glowing coals, wy thoughts | a check, proceeded to settle for his purchase. in Broken dow very far away from Barbican, E.C. My ima-| ‘‘*The check is good; you will perceive : N another room, on a broken-down sofa-bed, | gination wandered to the seat of war, where | he began. | lay a woman with a six-months-old baby in her | Such terrible privation and blood-freezing cold | “My. dear sir," I interrupted (the check was arms. A rickety chair was the only other article | and acute suffering — rendered all the more so | perfectly genuine, I was convinced, seeing that in the room. ‘There was a cupboard, but it | by shocking mismanagement—encompassed our | it bore the signature of the firm that had men- | was empty, and the poor woman and the baby | poor brave fellows round about; and just as a | tioned my name). j | were evidently starving. —W. Y. Herald. deep sigh came from my lips, my shop-door | _ ‘I know what you would say, sir,’ he said, his is scarcely a subject for jesting, but we | pened and there entered a fine, tall, handsome- | holding up his hand, while a look of extreme cannot resist the temptation to remark that this looking gentleman, who, by his dress and bear- | shrewdness covered his face; ‘ you would say is evidently a case of **sofa and no fdder.” ine" Nes evidently a clergyman, At least I that you have implicit faith in me. ‘That is | | a ——— | thought so at the time, as would anybody else, | Wrong—utterly wrdng! As a business man, you comicbooks.com