THE BEND BULLETIN. BEND. OREGON THURSDAY. APRIL 19. 1945
PAGE ELEVEN
SI
A FORTUNE IN DIAMONDS
XXVIII
When I turned In at the ceme
tery gate lor the second time that
day it was almost darn and there
was no sun to help me lind my
way. The rain had turned to snow.
1 parked my car under a great
oak tree and shut oil the motor.
The wind had risen and I heard
it keening mournfully in the
branches overhead. I walked slow
ly away from my car, feeling the
ground with my feet and staring
against that curtain of night and
snow.
Suddenly I saw the monument
ahead of me, dimly white in the
gathering darkness.
Then I felt the ground, soft and
oozy under my feet I looked
down. I was standing on the
fresh-turned earth of Phineas
Hudson's grave. Quickly I stepped
off and turned toward the monu
ment again when something
caught my eye. I turned back and
looked more closely.
The grave looked odd. It seem
ed curiously untidy. As a matter
of fact, it was not completely
filled in. .
There was a little mound of
dirt beside the grave. I stared at
that mound and I began to think
about it. A couple of swings of
the shovel would have spread the
earth evenly, if loosely, over the
grave. .
I leaned down, moved my hand
across the dirt, and felt a hollow
in the soil. A hollow, scooped-out,
unnatural and unmistakable. At
first, I merely looked at it curi
ously. But the more I looked at
it, the odder I felt. Then I had a
horrible conviction. It swept over
me like the cold wind of a sea-
turn. The sweat broke out on my
forehead. I stood up and looked
around. And all the while that
horrid question kept hammering
in my brain. Who had been dig
ging in Phineas Hudson's new
made grave?
I should have liked the cour
age to run. Instead I went up to
the monument, with the ivory
elephant in my hand.
A monstrosity,, I thought, as I
looked at the polished granite
sphere supported by four granite
pillars. Within must be the recess
where I . was to place the ele
phant. I put my hand over the
edge. The cold, wet snow brushed
my flesh. I put the elephant in
and moved him about indecisive
ly. My fingers closed on a small
solidity. And I was at once hor
rified and exalted. I drew it out
a small leather bag and loosened
the draw-string with numb fing
ers. I put in rny hand, and even
with all my ignorance of precious
stones I knew it held one of the
Ostermann diamonds! And in the
other hand four million and some
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
-My fingers began to tremble.
It'svquite a common thing with
diamonds. They do things to you.
But this was more than that. This
was sin, heartache, and death. I
had to hurry. Panic seized me. I
spread the maw of the little leath
er bag. And I dropped the dia
mond. But not in the bag. It slid
crazily past the opening and I felt
it strike my ankle and bounce off.
Carefully I got down on my
hands and knees, and I began to
move my palms swiftly, but light
ly over the earth. I picked up
three pebbles. My trousers got
soggy and my hands ached with
cold. And I was still looking
when I saw the lights of a car
turning in at the cemetery gate.
It stopped, then came swiftly
along the curving drive. I de
bated withdrawing behind the
manument. But an irrational
sense of thrift kept me there on
my knees rooting in the soft,
oozey earth for that diamond.
The car stopped behind mine.
I rested my hands on my thighs
and saw the door open. Then a
voice, high and clear like a gun
shot in that quiet place.
"Nick!"
'
It was Brenda Temple.
"For God's sake, come over
here," I shouted, all my tension
curiously spilling away. --.
She came across the lots, calm,
unhurried, deliberate.
- 'Never mind how you got here,"
I said, "I dropped a diamond.
Help me find it."
"Pat called me. She- was wor
ried about you. I thought" Her
voice trailed off. She leaned down
and stared close into my face.
"Did you say a diamond, son?"
"As big as a robin's egg," I said.
"Great day," she said. "So
you've found them." y-
She leaned down, 'picked :up
somethign, and held it close for
Inspection.
"Is this what you're looking
for?"
It was.
"Give me that," I said.
"I'm sentimental about these
things," she said. "Let me hold it
a moment."
I grabbed her wrist. She fend
ed off my hand with cool amuse
ment. --"Nick! Don't be precipitate."
"Big words for a little girl.
No Black Market?
Declaring that most talk about
the black market "sheer rumor,
gossip, hoax and without foun
dation,'! Thomas I Emerson,
deputy price administrator in
charge of enforcement, is shown
above as he testified before the
Senate Food Investigating Com
mittee. His statement was al
most coincidental with the res
ignation, en masse, of the War
Rationing Board of Westfield.
N J because "Too many peo
ple are willing to pay prices
over the ceiling to obtain what
they want."
"Look!"
I pointed at Phineas Hudson's
grave at a little mound of loose
soil. Her fine brows drew down
in concentration. She emitted a
soft wristle. She smiled up at me,
passed back the stone, and took
my arm. v
"Isn't it a bit early for plant
ing?" "It all depends upon what
you're p 1 a n t i n g," I replied.
I
FOR BABr
ITS NUl new
lovely os new when .
,he Clorox woyv ,.,oens sowv
Weoches wh rte coHo , removes
white lb"9henV?eV It olso deodor
it0ins, scorch, mildew.
iies, disinfects. And OO ceineed
eentle,yet thorough . fab.
for hard rubb.ng thoweo iorox
ric, before eZyrr
t-H4
disinfect, deodorize ana floorj
S,mp Y '1 '""-i
1
TV. i
"v.
7
if,
na mokes ile. .onit0rY.
"Come."
We stepped carefully around
the dirt. Brenda shuddered a bit
and said:
"How horribly fascinating!
Who d'you think did it?"
I didn't answer that question.
I never even had time to ponder
it. Brenda had turned for a last
curious look at the disturbed
grave. I heard her gasp sharply
and I turned. And I had my an
swer. (To Be Continued)
GOOD CAUSE BENEFITS
Northumberland, Pa. tll'i An
old, unpaid dentist bill netted the
Red Cross drive here $10. The
local postmaster received the
money with a note from a "re
pentent sinner" stating that the
sender, as a poor working girl,
didn't pay a dentist in Northum
berland what she owed him. Since
she had forgotten the name of the
dentist, she requested that the
money be given to the Ked Cross.
LUCKY BREAK
New Albany, Ind. uThls was
quick work, to say the least!
When Mrs. Ruby Davis found her
iron missing, she went to find a
replacement. The storekeeper
brought one out the only one he
had and Mrs. Davis recognized
it as hers. He described the man
who had brought it in and the
latter was arrested.. .
,, SMOKING HABIT IBKED
Toledo, O.-tlPi Mrs. Elizabeth
J. Savage sought a divorce from
her husband, William, because he
"frequently fell asleep" while
smoking cigarets. But Judge Paul
W. Alexander granted the decree
on grounds of gross neglect and
awarded Mrs. Savage custody of
the couple' two children.
SUPER FREIGHT ENGINES
Portland, Me. ilfi Twelve new
superlocomotives on the Boston
& Maine railroad hauled more
freight than old-type engines dur
ing one month at a net saving of
$80,000.
ERICKSON'S SPECIALS
.mm -nnnn li7V7
FOR FRIDAY SATURDAY
Seedless Raisins
2 u- pkg- 25c
Hoody Peanut Butter 2 49c
Yellow Corn Meal No. 10 bag 49c
Homemade Pickles. Libby's ....... No. 2 jar 31c
Deluxe Plum Preserves, Libby's 21 oz. jar 33c
Libby's Apple Butter ...303 jar 19c
Dodge Chow Chow Mustard Pickles.. pt. jar 19c
Apple Juice, Hood River quart 25c
Karo Golden Syrup 1J lb. jar 15c
Karo Syrup (Golden) .......5 lb. jar 41c
Mince Meat, Bulk 2 lbs. 29c
Green Tomato Slices No; 2 jar 25c
" ill
Softasilk
Cake Flour .
Ige. pkg. 26c
Sunshine
Krispy
Crackers
2 lb. box
31c
Lipton's
Chic. Noodle
Soup
3 pkgs.aaj2J5c
Leg O' Lamb
A Springtime Treat
Grade A, 7 points
lb. 39c
US OF LAMB
Pork Chops
lb. 38c
Choice Cute, 12 Points M.
Veal Steak ........... Ibi. 29c
Finest Quality, 4 Points
Wieners ...lb. 37c
Those Good Kind, 5 Points
Primost Cheese . . . ...lb. 23c
Point Free!
Spiced Herring ...... .lb. 35c
, Very Delicious, Point Free
Fresh Oysters .. .'. . . .pint 67c
In Bulk, Point Free
Pimientos ......7 oz. jar 25c
Fancy Tomato Juice...... No. 5 can 24c
Cream Corn, Fancy No. 2.... 2 cans 29ej
Fountain Cut Beans ......No. 2 can 25c
Walla Walla Green Limas..No. 2 can 23c
Libby's Mjxed Vegetables.. No. 2 can 19c
Solid Pack Tomatoes No. 2 J can 19c
Whole Kernel Corn Niblets, H-D 2 cans 29c
Sliced or Diced Beets, No. 2... 2 cans 25c
Kadota Figs, Libby's No. 2 can 33c
Grapefruit Juice No. 2 can 15c
Orange Juice No. 2 can 20c
Blended Juice No. 2 can 18c
Sliced Peaches No. 1 tall 15c
Bartlett Pears No. 2 can 27c
Cocoa Malt ..1-lb. can 41c
Borden's Choc. Malted Milk, Mb. can 29c
Pudding Mix pkg. 5c
Clinton Chocolate ButterscoUli Vanilla
Soft Shell Walnuts lb. 43c
Maraschino Cherries 8 oz. bottle 27c
Tomato Sauce
can 5c
Tuna Fish
Ocean Chief, grated . .can 24c
Solid White Meat ... .can 43c
vara
Tang
Salad
Dressing
p quart 39c
PET
Pet
MILK
3 cans 29c
HEMO
II y 1 ',ur
I Hpmo (fl
Amaizo Gloss Starch 2 pkgs, 13c
Purex or Clorox gallon 25c
Pen Champ Self Polishing Wax (1 quart free) 1 qt. 98c
Johnson's Floor Cleaner 1 pt. can 29c
Church's Grape Juice .pint 17c
Leather Gloves pair 98c
Pop Washing Powder 24 oz. pkg. 15c
Concord Grape Preserve 21 oz. jcr 29c
Post Toasties, 2 giant size 25c
Grapenuts ....... .pkg. 14c
Satisfaction Cereal pkg. 26c
Calo Dog Food case of 48 cans 1.49
Radishes, bun. 5c
Lettuce, head 9c
GRAPEFRUIT
I.arj;e Arizium
doz. 55c
Spinach lb. 10c
I'ri'Kli
Pineapple ea. 39c
, .Mi'tliiim Sl.i
DAFFODILS
Klnif Alfr"l
2 doz. 55c
Ib'Kiilur IlK! Mai 1 Cam '-Mo
25C jfyfrm woi I
WMfW irwn nrvrp
I'V. &Mlfr&WX&&Xilii!-iVtiKi ,f m'iriiltr-i-T - - - i --iiKnmiitJ-'--- -ni T1
;'. ijx Palmolive, reg. size, 3 bars 20c H -1- 1
Www zzn Palmolive, bath size, 2 bars 19c - I
MVm - Cashmere Bouquet, 3 bars 27c
r; Super-Suds Ige. pkg. 23c - ' "' -f
UK SS-" ees Granulated, Ige. pk. 26c
Xg Peets Mechanic bar 7c .
i riiiif..