assembly. Even
some of the monarchs threw up their hats. The Emperor Tsait'ten smiled
from ear to ear. One of the Roko Tuis, or native chiefs, from Fiji,
sprang up and brandished a war club.

The President then proceeded to call the other nations, beginning with
Austria-Hungary and ending with Zanzibar, whose Sultan, Hamoud bin
Mahomed, had come to the congress in the escort of Queen Victoria. Each
contributed liberally.

Germany coming in alphabetical order just before Great Britain, had named,
through its Chancellor, the sum of $500,000,000, but when the First Lord
of the British Treasury, not wishing to be behind the United States,
named double that sum as the contribution of the British Empire, the
Emperor William looked displeased. He spoke a word in the ear of the
Chancellor, who immediately raised his hand.

A Thousand Million Dollars.

"We will give a thousand million dollars," said the Chancellor.

Queen Victoria seemed surprised, though not displeased. The First Lord
of the Treasury met her eye, and then, rising in his place, said:

"Make it fifteen hundred million for Great Britain."

Emperor William consulted again with his Chancellor, but evidently
concluded not to increase his bid.

But, at any rate, the fund had benefited to the amount of a thousand
millions by this little outburst of imperial rivalry.

The greatest surprise of all, however, came when the King of Siam was
called upon for his contribution. He had not been given a foremost place
in the Congress, but when the name of his country was pronounced he rose
by his chair, dressed in a gorgeous specimen of the peculiar attire of
his country, then slowly pushed his way to the front, stepped up to the
President's desk and deposited upon it a small box.

"This is our contribution," he said, in broken English.

The cover was lifted, and there darted, shimmering in the half gloom of
the Chamber, a burst of iridescence from the box.

The Long Lost Treasure.

"My friends of the Western world," continued the King of Siam, "will be
interested in seeing this gem. Only once before has the eye of a European
been blessed with the sight of it. Your books will tell you that in the
seventeenth century a traveler, Tavernier, saw in India an unmatched
diamond which afterward disappeared like a meteor, and was thought to
have been lost from the earth. You all know the name of that diamond and
its history. It is the Great Mogul, and it lies before yo