# A Deal in Ostriches explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

A taxidermist recounts a story from his youth about a diamond swallowed by an ostrich aboard an East Indiaman. The gem belonged to Sir Mohini Padishah, a wealthy Hindu. A series of bids, sales, and dissections ensue as passengers gamble on which bird holds the diamond, culminating in a suspicious friendship between Padishah and the opportunistic Potter.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Inequality

The story contrasts the wealthy Padishah with the opportunistic Potter and the amused passengers, highlighting colonial and class tensions.

### Artifice vs. Authenticity

The uncertainty over whether the diamond was ever swallowed, and the eventual camaraderie between Padishah and Potter, suggests deception and performance.

### Ambition and Failure

Padishah's obsessive attempts to reclaim his diamond and the passengers' speculative bids end in ambiguous loss, underscoring the folly of greed.

## Character check-ins

### Sir Mohini Padishah

The wealthy Hindu whose diamond is swallowed by an ostrich; he frantically tries to recover it through legal threats and bidding.

### Potter

A Eurasian gambler who buys all five ostriches and auctions them off, keeping one for himself.

### Mr. Jacoby Wace

The taxidermist and narrator of the story, who participates in the bidding.

## Key lines

> Talking of the prices of birds, I’ve seen an ostrich that cost three hundred pounds.

The narrator begins by mentioning an ostrich that sold for three hundred pounds.

_Opening hook that sets up the story's financial stakes._

> The chap it got it off was Sir Mohini Padishah, a tremendous swell, a Piccadilly swell you might say up to the neck of him, and then an ugly black head and a whopping turban, with this diamond in it.

The diamond belonged to Sir Mohini Padishah, a wealthy Indian man dressed in fashionable European style but with a turban.

_Introduces the owner and the exotic/colonial contrast._

> He would not buy the birds; he would have his diamond. He demanded his rights as a British subject.

Padishah insisted on recovering the diamond itself rather than accepting compensation.

_Highlights Padishah's legalistic and emotional attachment to the gem._

> Potter said he’d be hanged if he parted with a feather of them⁠—that he meant to kill them off one by one and find the diamond.

Potter refused to sell the birds and planned to dissect them to find the diamond.

_Shows Potter's speculative and ruthless approach._

> A week or so after landing I was down Regent-street doing a bit of shopping, and who should I see arm-in-arm and having a purple time of it but Padishah and Potter.

Later, the narrator saw Padishah and Potter together in London, apparently on friendly terms.

_Suggests the whole incident may have been a scam or that they reconciled._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/a-deal-in-ostriches
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters