id iss perfect. Und I take my own judgment of a diamond, Laadham,
before any man der vorld in but Czenki."

"And the weight?"

"Prezizely six und d'ree-sixdeendh carads. Dere iss nod more as a
difference of a d'irty-second bedween dem."

Mr. Latham regarded the importer steadily, the while he fought back
an absurd, nervous thrill in his voice.

"There isn't that much, Schultze. Their weight is exactly the same."

For a long time the two men sat staring at each other unseeingly.
Finally the German, with a prodigious Teutonic sigh, replaced the
diamond from Mr. Latham's right hand in one of the glazed boxes and
carefully stowed it away in a cavernous pocket; Mr. Latham
mechanically disposed of the other in the same manner.

"Whose are they?" he demanded at length. "Why are they sent to us
like this, with no name, no letter of explanation? Until I saw the
stone you have I believed this other had been sent to me by some
careless fool for setting, perhaps, and that a letter would follow
it. I merely brought it here on the chance that it was one of your
importations and that you could identify it. But since you have
received one under circumstances which seem to be identical, now--"
He paused helplessly. "What does it mean?"

Mr. Schultze shrugged his huge shoulders and thoughtfully flicked
the ashes from his cigar into the consomme.