his oar, I wouldn’t believe him under oath!”
Well, sir, that fairly made them shout; and even the
judge he let go and laughed. Tom he was just feeling
like a rainbow. When they was done laughing he
looks up at the judge and says:
“Your honor, there’s a thief in this house.”
“A thief?”
“Yes, sir. And he’s got them twelve-thousand-
dollar di’monds on him.”
By gracious, but it made a stir! Everybody went
shouting:
“Which is him? which is him? p’int him out!”
And the judge says:
“Point him out, my lad. Sheriff, you will arrest
him. Which one is it?”
Tom says:
“This late dead man here — Jubiter Dunlap.”
Then there was another thundering let-go of astonish-
ment and excitement; but Jubiter, which was astonished
enough before, was just fairly putrified with astonish-
ment this time. And he spoke up, about half crying,
and says:
“Now THAT’S a lie. Your honor, it ain’t fair; I’m
plenty bad enough without that. I done the other
things — Brace he put me up to it, and persuaded me,
and promised he’d make me rich, some day, and I done
it, and I’m sorry I done it, and I wisht I hadn’t; but I
hain’t stole no di’monds, and I hain’t GOT no di’monds;
I wisht I may never stir if it ain’t so. The sheriff can
search me and see.”
Tom says:
“Your honor, it wasn’t right to call him a thief, and
I’ll let up on that a little. He did steal the di’monds,
but he didn’t know it. He stole them from his brother
Jake when he was laying dead, after Jake had stole them
from the other thieves; but Jubiter didn’t know he was
stealing them; and he’s been swelling around here with
them a month; yes, sir, twelve thousand dollars’ worth
of di’monds on him — all that riches, and going around
here every day just like a poor man. Yes, your honor,
he’s got them on him now.”
The judge spoke up and says:
“Search him, sheriff.”
Well, sir, the sheriff he ransacked him high and low,
and everywhere: searched his hat, socks, seams, boots,
everything — and Tom he stood there quiet, laying for
another of them effects of hisn. Finally the sheriff he
give it up, and everybody looked disappointed, and
Jubiter says:
“There, now! what’d I tell you?”
And the judge says:
“It appears you were mistaken this time, my
boy.”
Then Tom took an attitude and let on to be studying
with all his might, and scratching his head. Then all
of a sudden he glanced up chipper, and says:
“Oh, now I’ve got it ! I’d forgot.”
Which was a lie, and I knowed it. Then he says:
“Will somebody be good enough to lend me a little
small screwdriver? There was one in your brother’s
hand-bag that you smouched, Jubiter. but I reckon
you didn’t fetch it with you.”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want it, and I give it
away.”
“That’s because you didn’t know what it was
for.”
Jubiter had his boots on again, by now, and when
the thing Tom wanted was passed over the people’s
heads till it got to him, he says to Jubiter:
“Put up your foot on this chair.” And he kneeled
down and begun to unscrew the heel-plate, everybody
watching; and when he got that big di’mond out of
that boot-heel and held it up and let it flash and blaze
and squirt sunlight everwhichaway, it just took every-
body’s breath; and Jubiter he looked so sick and sorry
you never see the like of it. And when Tom held up
the other di’mond he looked sorrier than ever. Land!
he was thinking how he would ‘a’ skipped out and been
rich and independent in a foreign land if he’d only had
the luck to guess what the screwdriver was in the
carpet-bag for.
Well, it was a most exciting time, take it all around,
and Tom got cords of glory. The judge took the
di’monds, and stood up in his pulpit, and cleared his
throat, and shoved his spectacles back on his head, and
says:
“I’ll keep them and notify the owners; and when