“Brother Horace:
“Probably you have long since believed me dead, and I have given you good reason for that belief, for, if I am not mistaken, it was eight years ago, after my miserable failure at the Australian gold diggings, that I last wrote to you.
“I intended then that you should never hear from me again. I was a failure—a complete failure, I believed—and I determined to tempt fortune no further. With this intention I went to an island in the Pacific, and buried myself there, with only natives and one other white man for company, for six years.
“Then the old roving spirit awoke in me again, and I longed to try my luck once more where other men were gaining wealth. The news of the rich finds here in the diamond fields reached even our lonely isle, and finally I could not resist the temptation longer, and came here, leaving my companion to dwell alone among the natives. I have been here now the better part of a year and, at last, have been successful!
“Two months ago I struck a pocket in the hills, and out of a trench less than two rods in length, I have dug what I believe to be at least forty thousand pounds’ worth of diamonds of exceptional purity. But the diggings have now petered out.
“I kept the find a secret, and got all there was myself, excepting a small number which my black digger ran away with, and now I am afraid I shall not live to enjoy my riches.
“Perhaps it is as well. You know that riches have ever taken wings with us, and I should probably lose all in some other venture. I hope that you, Horace, will do better with them than I, for to you, brother, and to your boy, if he has lived, I bequeath the gems.
“I have been very ill now several days and the physician tells me that I am in a very bad way. Exposure to all sorts of weather in every kind of climate, is telling on me. Therefore I do write this to you, my brother, and take precaution to have the letter and the package of uncut stones sent to you.
“Nobody here knows of my find. It is safest to trust nobody in such a place as this. I propose to give the letter and the gems, all in a sealed packet, to a friend, who is the most trustworthy man I know, and have him give them to you. He will believe the package to contain nothing but papers, and therefore you will stand a good chance of getting the diamonds safely.
“Good by for this world, Horace. May the luck of the Tarrs be changed with this find of mine.