|
42 THE ORLOFF.
with
the god he threw off his disguise, climbed up the statue, gouged out
the Wonderful Eye, and made off with it to Trichinopoly.
Here
he was safe for the moment among the English troops encamped at that
place. But soon he journeyed on to Madras in search of a purchaser for
the Eye. He of course met an English sea-captain, the middle figure of
the indispensable trio of Fates, and to him the grenadier sold the
diamond for two thousand pounds ($10,000). After this the grenadier
falls back into obscurity.
The
sea-captain went to London and there speedily fell in with the Jew, the
third Fate. The name of this Fate was Khojeh Raphael, and his character
was that of "a complete old scoundrel." He seems to have traveled all
over Europe in his character of Jew and merÂchant and to have left a
not altogether immacuÂlate record of himself. Khojeh Raphael paid
twelve thousand pounds ($60,000) for the stone and then in his turn set
about hunting up a pur-
|
||
|
|
||