Some six months ago Mr. John Smith, an American gentleman, bought a small piece of ground. Mr. Smith afterwards presented this piece of ground to a poor artist named George Arnold. 1. Now he wanted to pay for the damage he had done. He then said that he would make additional satisfaction by improving the ground for Mr. Arnold, at his own cost.
Four weeks ago, while digging the ground, Mr. Smith discovered something. 2. It was an exquisite figure of a woman, though sadly stained by the soil and the mould of ages. The nose, the left leg from the knee down, an ear, and also the toes of the right foot and two fingers of one of the hands were gone. 3.
The government at once took possession of the statue, and appointed a commission of art critics and antiquaries to estimate and determine the compensation that must go to the owner of the ground in which it was found. The whole affair was kept secret until last night. 4. Last night they decided unanimously that the statue is a Venus. 5. At midnight they held a final conference and decided that the Venus was worth the enormous sum of ten million dollars!