at it, the more
he thought: 'By Jove, I believe it's a diamond!'

"So he said to the old Boer: 'Where did the children get this stone?'
And the old Boer said: 'Oh! the shepherd picked it up somewhere.' And
Ray said: '_Where_ did he pick it up?' And the old Boer waved his hand,
and said: 'Over the Kopje, there, beyond the river. How should I know,
brother?--a stone is a stone!' So Ray said: 'You let me take this stone
away with me!' And the old Boer went on smokin', and he said: 'One
stone's the same as another. Take it, brother!' And Ray said: 'If it's
what I think, I'll give you half the price I get for it.'

"The old Boer smiled, and said: 'That's all right, brother; take it,
take it!'

"The next morning Ray left this old Boer, and, when he was going, he
said to him: 'Well,' he said, 'I believe this is a valuable stone!' and
the old Boer smiled because he knew one stone was the same as another.

"The first place Ray came to was C--, and he went to the hotel; and in
the evenin' he began talkin' about the stone, and they all laughed at
him, because in those days nobody had heard of diamonds in South Africa.
So presently he lost his temper, and pulled out the stone and showed it
round; but nobody thought it was a diamond, and they all laughed at him
the more. Then one of the fellers said: 'If it's a diamond, it ought to
cut glass.'

"Ray took the stone, and, by Jove, he cut his name on the window, and
there it is--I've seen it--on the bar window of that hotel. Well, next
day, you bet, he travelled straight back to where the old Boer told him
the shepherd had picked up the stone, and he went to a native chief
called Jointje, and said to him: 'Jointje,' he said, 'I go a journey.
While I go, you go about and send all your "boys" about, and look for
all the stones that shine like this one; and when I come back, if you
find me plenty, I give you gun.' And Jointje said: 'That all right,
Boss.'

"And Ray went down to Cape Town, and took the stone to a jeweller, and
the jeweller told him it was a diamond of about 30 or 40 carats, and
gave him five hundred pound for it. So he bought a waggon and a span of
oxen to give to the old Boer, and went back to Jointje. The niggers had
collected skinfuls of stones of all kinds, and out of all the skinfuls
Ray found three or four diamonds. So he went to work and got another
feller to back him, and between them they made the Government move. The
rush began, and they found that place