windows and sparkled it back.

And now the three jewels lay side by side in Mr. Czenki's open hand,
the while the five greatest diamond merchants of the United States
glutted their eyes upon them. Mr. Latham's face went deathly white
from sheer excitement, the German's violently red from the same
emotion, and the others--there was amazement, admiration, awe in
them. Mr. Czenki's countenance was again impassive.



CHAPTER IV

THE UNLIMITED SUPPLY

"If you will all be seated again, please?" requested Mr. Wynne, who
still stood, cool and self-certain, at the end of the table.

The sound of his voice brought a returning calm to the others, and
they resumed their seats--all save Mr. Cawthorne, who walked over to
a window with the three spheres in his hand and stood there examining
them under his glass.

"You gentlemen know, of course, the natural shape of the diamond in
the rough?" Mr. Wynne resumed questioningly. "Here are a dozen
specimens which may interest you--the octahedron, the rhombic
dodecahedron, the triakisoctahedron and the hexakisoctahedron." He
spread them along the table with a sweeping gesture of his hand,
colorless, inert pebbles, ranging in size from a pea to a peanut.
"And now, you ask, where do they come from?"