"Zo you see, Laadham," Mr. Schultze interpolated, "ve don'd know
anyding much. Ve _know_ der African fields, und der Australian
fields, und der Brazilian fields, und der fields in India, bud ve
_don'd_ know if new fields haf been found. By der time you haf lived
so long as me you won't know any more as I do."

There was silence for a long time. Mr. Czenki sat with impassive
face, and his hands at rest on the arms of the chair. At last he
spoke:

"If you'll pardon me, Mr. Latham, I may suggest another possibility."

"_Vas iss?_" demanded Mr. Schultze quickly.

"Did you ever hear of the French scientist, Charles Friedel?" Mr.
Czenki asked, addressing Mr. Latham.

"Never, no."

"Well, this idea has occurred to me. Some years ago he discovered two
or three small diamonds in a meteor. We may safely assume, from the
fact that there were diamonds in one meteor, that there may be
diamonds in other meteors, therefore--"

The German importer anticipated his line of thought and arose with a
guttural burst of Teutonic expletives.

"Therefore," the expert went on steadily, "is it not possible that
Mr. Wynne has stumbled upon a huge deposit of diamonds in some