llars' worth of
diamonds have been found there; and we'll say arbitrarily that all
the other diamond fields of the world, including Brazil and
Australia, have produced another five hundred million dollars' worth
--in other words, since about 1868 a billion dollars' worth of
diamonds has been placed upon the market. Gentlemen, that represents
millions and millions of carats--forty, fifty, sixty million carats
in the rough, say. Please bear those figures in mind a moment.

"Now, suddenly, and as yet secretly, the diamond output of the world
has been increased fiftyfold--that is, gentlemen, within the year I
can place _another_ billion dollars' worth of diamonds, at the
prices that hold now, in the open market; and within still another
year I can place still another billion in the market; and on and on
indefinitely. To put it differently, I have found the unlimited
supply."

"_Mein Gott_, vere _iss_ id?" demanded the German breathlessly.

Heedless of the question, Mr. Wynne leaned forward on the table, and
gazed with half-closed eyes into the faces before him. Incredulity
was the predominant expression, and coupled with that was amazement.
Mr. Harris, with quite another emotion displaying itself on his face,
pushed back his chair as if to rise; a slight wrinkle in his brow was
all the evidence of interest displayed by Mr. Czenki.

"I am not crazy, gentlemen," Mr. Wynne went on after a moment, and
the perfectly normal voice seemed to reassure Mr. Harris, for he sat
still. "The diamonds are now in existence, untold millions of
dollars' worth of them--but there is the tedious work of cutting.
They're in existence, packed away as you pack potatoes--I thrust my
two hands into a bag and bring them out full of stones as perfect as
the ones I sent you."

He straightened up again and the deep earnestness of his face relaxed
a little.

"I believe you said, Mr. Wynne, that you could prove any assertion you
might make, here and now?" suggested Mr. Latham coldly. "It occurs
to me that such extraordinary statements as these demand immediate
proof."

Mr. Wynne turned and smiled at him.

"You are quite right," he agreed; and then, to all of them: "It's
hardly necessary to dwell upon the value of colored diamonds--the
rarest and most precious of all--the perfect rose-color, the perfect
blue and the perfect green." He drew a small, glazed white box from
his pocket and opened it. "Please be good enough to look at this, Mr.