The purse
that the Sultan gave my son was, in itself, an ample reward for the
share he took in it.
"Now, Surajah, open your casket. The ladies are waiting to see the
contents."
The whole of the little packets, some fifty in number, were opened and
examined; many of them eliciting exclamations of admiration from the
ranee and Mrs. Holland.
"There is no doubt that many of them are worth a good deal of money,"
the Rajah said. "It is certain that Tippoo's treasuries are full of
the spoils he has carried off, from the states he has overrun, and the
ladies of the harem, no doubt, possess a store of the jewels, and
could afford to be liberal to those whom they considered had saved
their lives. Those seven, which you put together as the best, must
alone be worth a large sum. I should think that the total value of the
whole cannot be less than forty or fifty thousand rupees, so that, if
those in your casket are handsomer than these, Dick, they must be
valuable, indeed."
Dick's casket was next examined.
"Some of these stones are magnificent, Dick. Those three great
diamonds could only be valued by a jeweller accustomed to such things,
for their value depends upon their being of good lustre, and free from
all flaws; but, according to my judgment, I should say that, at the
very least, they must be worth ten thousand rupees each.
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