would be plenty of
time when he could get the vice-president alone. So he just sat back
and puffed his cigar, while around him went on the hum of conversation,
punctuated here and there with bursts of laughter.

Considering his short stay at the diamond mines it was astonishing how
well stocked their host was with stories. To hear him talk one might
have thought he had been a miner all his life. Stimulated by copious
draughts of champagne, which he contrived to make flow like water, he
was highly interesting, and his listeners, greatly interested, hung on
to every word.

"It must be a terrible life!" said Steell, as he lit another cigar.

The host emptied his glass and again refilled it before he answered:

"It's a life of a dog--not of a human being. The toil is incessant,
the profit doubtful. You starve to death: good food is unprocurable
save at prohibitive prices. One sleeps practically in the open, save
for such rude shelter as each man can make for himself. The flies are
a pest and constant source of danger. The water is abominable."

"You like champagne better, eh?" laughed Ray.

The gambler had already drunk more than was good for him, and, raising
his glass in a mock toast, began to hum the first lines of a familiar
camp ditty:

"_La femme qui sait me plaire
C'est la petite veuve Clicquot._"

"Is there much stealing of diamonds by the miners?" demanded Mr. Parker.

Handsome nodded.

"Lots of it. They have to watch 'em all the time. They resort to all
kinds of tricks to conceal stones they find. They used to swallow
them, but when they were forced to take powerful emetics and other
drugs, they soon got tired of that game. They also try to smuggle them
across the border line. One detective, who had been for months on the
trail of a well-to-do smuggler, was badly stung. The man invited him
to go shooting, and kindly furnished guns and cartridges. The
unsuspecting policeman carried the cartridges across the border, never
dreaming that each one was filled with diamonds."

Ray clapped her hands.

"Oh, what a clever idea!"

The host nodded approvingly.

"That's what I thought. Any man as smart as that deserved to get away
with it."

Mr. Parker protested.

"Rogues are always smart!" he exclaimed.

"Until they're caught," laughed Dick Reynolds. "Then they don't think
they're so smart."

Mr. Steell nodded approval.

"I know something about that," said the lawyer. "A crook