!" replied Parker hoarsely.

"The diamonds lost!"

"Yes--lost--he has returned without them. They went down in the
_Abyssinia_. At least, that's what he says----"

The lawyer started.

"You think----"

"I think nothing," replied the president cautiously. "I want to know.
That's why I want you to help me--to find out--you understand?"

The lawyer nodded:

"Some detective work, eh?"

"Precisely. The stones may have gone down to the bottom of the ocean,
or they may not. For all we know the ship may have been set on fire
purposely, in order to create such a panic----"

The lawyer protested.

"Surely you don't think Kenneth----"

The president shook his head.

"I accuse nobody. I want to find out."

He was silent for a moment, and then after a pause he went on:

"I suppose you've heard, as well as everybody else, how Traynor has
been plunging in Wall Street recently."

The lawyer nodded. Hesitatingly he replied:

"Yes--I have. Unfortunately, the reports are true. Investigations I
have conducted privately on my own account have convinced me that
Kenneth has been a big plunger for some time. But as far as I know, he
has operated only within his means. I have often remonstrated with him
about the folly of it, but he enjoys the excitement of the speculation
game, and as long as he kept within bounds and gambled with his own
money I didn't see that anyone had any right to interfere."

"Ah, just so--as long as he operated with his own means and with his
own money. But suppose the market suddenly goes against such a man,
and he is face to face with a tremendous loss, possibly ruin, what does
such a man do nine times out of ten?"

"Blow his brains out."

"Yes--sometimes that, but often he succumbs to temptation, and takes
what isn't his----"

"Then you think that Kenneth----"

"I think nothing. I want to know. He has come back from Africa a
changed man. He is surly, morose, secretive. That man has something
on his conscience. We must find out what it is. It is up to you to
ferret it out. Set your detectives to work. The company will spend
the last cent in its treasury to find those stones. You must trail his
associates, find out where he goes. The diamonds are probably right
here in New York. Who first took Kenneth to Wall Street?"

"Signor Keralio----"

"Ah--always that fellow! Who is he?"

"An adventurer of the worst type. I have had him shadowed by one of my
men. He has a