moments with his naked eye. Then, taking a spy-glass from his waistcoat pocket, he examined it through that. Scarcely had he placed the glass in its place than he sprang round at Mr. Ruby.
"Ruby!" Strong words seemed trembling on his lips. If that were so, he exercised an effort of self-control. "You've been done!"
"Mr. Golden!"
"How many times have I asked you not to buy diamonds in my absence!"
Mr. Ruby's face was pasty-hued. "But—but it's one of the finest diamonds I've ever seen."
Mr. Golden's glance was expressive of the most supreme contempt. "Look at it through that, and tell me if you see nothing."
Mr. Ruby looked at the diamond through his partner's spy-glass. "I—I can only see that it is a very beautiful stone."
"Can't you see, right in the centre, what looks like a speck of light?"
"Now that I look into it closely, there certainly does seem to be something of the kind. But it is so slight that, even with this strong glass, it is scarcely noticeable."
"And yet, sooner or later, it will shiver that stone to splinters."
"Mr. Golden!"
"I have seen it before, and I know what it is. It is a sort of disease to which African diamonds are peculiarly liable, especially the finest stones. I wish to goodness, Ruby, that you would leave these things to me. That speck of light is a crack in the grain of the stone. It will increase in size, ramifying in
