Padishah provided each new owner with his address and begged the men to mail the diamond once they found it. The price for each subsequent bird grew netting Potter more than one thousand Pounds. After the first bird sold was slaughtered upon the deck, Potter forbid their slaughter until landfall in London. Interest in the auction flared when a Jewish diamond merchant assessed the diamond at three to four thousand British Pounds. When Padishah balked, Potter sells the birds at auction on the ship. Potter offered to sell the birds to Padishah for more than twice the amount he paid. Padisha raged over this and the taxidermist cursed himself for not having thought of it.The birds’ owner accepted Potter’s offer and Padishah wept over the sale. He intends to kill the birds to find the diamond.

While in Aden, Potter wired the birds owners in London, made the offer and his answer would be waiting in Suez. The caretaker refuses, but tells Padishah that another passenger, Potter, made a similar offer. Following a stopover in Aden, Padishah offers to buy all five birds. Padishah demands the ostriches from the caretaker who refuses because he does not own the birds. As no barrister is aboard, much of the discussions are speculation. He demands his rights as a British Subject and plans to appeal to the British House of Lords.The passengers debate the legalities of the situation. He swore he would retrieve the diamond, but would not buy the birds. Word of the incident sweeps the vessel as Padishah demands the return of the diamond. The bird becomes mixed with the others during the resulting confusion. An unnamed caretaker, was on deck with five ostriches when one of the birds swallowed the diamond from Padishah’s turban. Sir Mohini Padishah, a wealthy native Indian, is aboard the vessel. The taxidermist is talking with an unnamed acquaintance about the price of birds when he tells the story of a bird auction on an East India Company ship en route from India to London.

The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick