Czenki."

He spun a rosily glittering object some three-quarters of an inch in
diameter, along the table toward Mr. Czenki. It flamed and flashed
as it rolled, with that deep iridescent blaze which left no doubt of
what it was. Every man at the table arose and crowded about Mr.
Czenki, who held a flamelike sphere in his outstretched palm for
their inspection. There was a tense, breathless instant.

"It's a diamond!" remarked Mr. Czenki, as if he himself had doubted
it. "A deep rose-color, cut as a perfect sphere."

"It's worth half a million dollars if it's worth a cent!" exclaimed
Mr. Solomon almost fiercely.

"And this, please."

Mr. Wynne, from the other end of the table, spun another glittering
sphere toward them--this as brilliantly, softly green as the verdure
of early spring, prismatic, gleaming, radiant. Mr. Czenki's beady
eyes snapped as he caught it and held it out for the others to see,
and some strange emotion within caused him to close his teeth
savagely.

"And this!" said Mr. Wynne again.

And a third sphere rolled along the table. This was blue--elusively
blue as a moonlit sky. Its rounded sides caught the light from the
windows and sparkled it back.

And now the three jewels lay side by side in Mr. Czenki's open hand,
the while the five greatest diamond merchants of the United States
glutted their eyes upon them. Mr. Latham's face went deathly white
from sheer excitement, the German's violently red from the same
emotion, and the others--there was amazement, admiration, awe in
them. Mr. Czenki's countenance was again impassive.

CHAPTER IV

THE UNLIMITED SUPPLY

"If you will all be seated again, please?" requested Mr. Wynne, who
still stood, cool and self-certain, at the end of the table.

The sound of his voice brought a returning calm to the others, and
they resumed their seats--all save Mr. Cawthorne, who walked over to
a window with the three spheres in his hand and stood there examining
them under his glass.

"You gentlemen know, of course, the natural shape of the diamond in
the rough?" Mr. Wynne resumed questioningly. "Here are a dozen
specimens which may interest you--the octahedron, the rhombic
dodecahedron, the triakisoctahedron and the hexakisoctahedron." He
spread them along the table with a sweeping gesture of his hand,
colorless, inert pebbles, ranging in size from a pea to a peanut.
"And now, you ask, where do they come from?"

The others nodded unanimous