. Solomon.

"No," the young man corrected; "this, too, is a duplicate. The
original is in the Russian sceptre. This is a replica--color, weight
and cutting being identical--one hundred and ninety-three carats,
nearly as large as a pigeon's egg."

Again Mr. Wynne glanced along the table. Suddenly the frank
amazement had vanished from the faces of these men, and he found
only the tense interest of an audience watching a clever juggler.
For a time Mr. Schultze studied the Orloff duplicate, then passed it
along to the experts.

"Der grand Cullinan diamond weighs only two or d'ree pounds," he
questioned in a tone of deep resignation. "Maybe you haf _him_ in
der backage, alretty?"

"Not yet," replied Mr. Wynne, "but I may possibly get that on my next
trip out. Who knows?"

There was a long, tense silence. Mechanically Mr. Czenki placed the
three spheres and the replicas in an orderly little row on the table
in front of him and the uncut stones beside them--six, seven, eight
million dollars' worth of diamonds.

"Gentlemen, are you convinced?" demanded Mr. Wynne suddenly. "Is
there one lingering doubt in any mind here as to the tremendous find
which makes the production of all those possible?"

"Id iss der miracle, Mr. Vynne," admitted the German gravely, after
a little pause. "Dere iss someding before us as nefer vas in der
vorld. I am gonvinced!"

"Up to this moment, gentlemen, the De Beers Syndicate has controlled
the diamond market," Mr. Wynne announced, "but now, from this moment,
I control it. I hold it there, in the palm of my hand, with the
unlimited supply back of me. I am offering you an opportunity to
prevent the annihilation of the market. It rests with you. If I
turn loose a billion dollars' worth of diamonds within the year you
are ruined--all of you. You _know_ that--it's hardly necessary to
tell you. And, gentlemen, I don't care to do it."

"What is your proposition?" queried Mr. Latham quietly. His face was
ghastly white; haggard lines, limned by amazement and realization,
were marked clearly on it. "What is your proposition?" he repeated.

"Wait a minute," interposed Mr. Solomon protestingly, and he turned
to the young man. "The Syndicate controls the market by force of a
reserve stock of ten or fifteen million dollars. Do we understand
that you have more than these ready for market now?"

Mr. Wynne stooped and lifted the small sole-leather grip which had
been unheeded on the