to carry his rough diamonds to
Tobolsk, as the nearest large town, and to exhibit them there, backing
up his assertion by the evidence of villagers who had seen him dig them
up. The Girdlestones knew that that alone would be sufficient when
telegraphed to England to produce a panic in the sensitive diamond
market. Before any systematic inquiry could be made, Langworthy would
have disappeared, and their little speculation would have come off.
After that the sooner the people realized that it was a hoax the better
for the conspirators. In any case, there seemed to be no possibility
that the origin of the rumour could be traced. Meanwhile, Ezra
Girdlestone had secured his passage in the Cape mail steamer _Cyprian_.
On the night that he left he sat up late in the library at Eccleston
Square talking over the matter for the last time with his father.

The old man was pale and nervous. The one weak point in his character
was his affection for his son, an affection which he strove to hide
under an austere manner, but which was none the less genuine. He had
never before parted with him for any length of time, and he felt the
wrench keenly. As to Ezra, he was flushed and excited at the thought of
the new scenes which lay before him and the daring speculation in which
he was about to embark. He flung himself into a chair and stretched his
thick, muscular limbs out in front of him.

"I know as much about stones," he said exultantly, "as any man in
London. I was pricing a bag of rough ones at Van Helmer's to-day, and
he is reckoned a good judge. He said that no expert could have done it
better. Lord bless you! pure or splints, or cracked, or off colour, or
spotted, or twin stones, I'm up to them all. I wasn't a pound out in
the market value of any one of them."

"You deserve great credit for your quickness and perseverance," replied
his father. "Your knowledge will be invaluable to you when you are at
the fields. Be careful of yourself when you are there, my son, if only
for my sake. There are rough fellows at such places, and you must give
them soft words. I know that your temper is quick, but remember those
wise words, 'He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a
city.'"

"Never fear for me, dad," said Ezra, with a sinister smile, pointing to
a small leather case which lay among his things. "That's the best
six-shooter I could get for money. I've taken a tip, you see, from our
good friend, the m