In this vessel was the Rajah's
favorite Queen, who, together with her attendants, were set upon
a pilgrimage to Mecca. The court of this great Oriental potentate
was, as may be readily supposed, fairly a-glitter with gold and
jewels, so that, what with such personal adornments that the
Queen and her attendants had fetched with them, besides an ample
treasury for the expenses of the expedition, an incredible prize
of gold and jewels rewarded the freebooters for their successful
adventure.
Among the precious stones taken in this great purchase was the
splendid ruby of Kishmoor. This, as may be known to the reader,
was one of the world's greatest gems, and was unique alike both
for its prodigious size and the splendor of its color. This
precious jewel the Rajah of Kishmoor had, upon a certain
occasion, bestowed upon his Queen, and at the time of her capture
she wore it as the centre-piece of a sort of a coronet which
encircled her forehead and brow.
The seizure by the pirate of so considerable a person as that of
the Queen of Kishmoor, and of the enormous treasure that he found
aboard her ship, would alone have been sufficient to have
established his fame. But the capture of so extraordinary a prize
as that of the ruby--which was, in itself, worth the value of an
entire Oriental kingdom--exalted him at once to the very highest
pinnacle of renown.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25