"Are you quite certain?" Mr. Latham insisted.

Something in the tone caused Mr. Czenki to raise his beady black
eyes questioningly for an instant, after which he walked over to a
window and adjusted his magnifying glass again. For a moment or more
he stood there, then:

"It's the same stone," he announced positively.

"Id _iss_ der miracle, Laadham, when Czenki make der mistake!" the
German exploded suddenly. "Show him der odder von."

Mr. Czenki glanced from one to the other with quick, inquisitive
glance; then, without a word, Mr. Latham produced the second box and
opened it. The expert stared incredulously at the two perfect stones
and finally, placing them side by side on a sheet of paper, returned
to the window and sat down. Mr. Latham and Mr. Schultze stood beside
him, looking on curiously as he turned and twisted the jewels under
his powerful glass.

"As a matter of fact," asked Mr. Latham pointedly at last, "you would
not venture to say which of those stones it was you examined this
morning, would you?"

"No," replied Mr. Czenki curtly, "not without weighing them."

"And if the weight is identical?"

"No," said Mr. Czenki again. "If the weight is the same there is not