whether your worship will buy this diamond, and at
what price. We have no time to tell long histories, and so must only say
that we are English sailors, and that the stone is fairly come by.' And
he let his fingers play with the diamond on the table, as if he feared it
might slip away from him.

'Softly, softly,' said the old man; 'all stones are fairly come by; but
had you told me whence you got this, I might have spared myself some
tedious tests, which now I must crave pardon for making.'

He opened a cupboard in the panelling, and took out from it a little
pair of scales, some crystals, a blackstone, and a bottle full of a
green liquid. Then he sat down again, drew the diamond gently from
Elzevir's fingers, which were loth to part with it, and began using his
scales; balancing the diamond carefully, now against a crystal, now
against some small brass weights. I stood with my back to the sunset,
watching the red light fall upon this old man as he weighed the diamond,
rubbed it on the black-stone, or let fall on it a drop of the liquor,
and so could see the wonder and emotion fade away from his face, and
only hard craftiness left in it.

I watched him meddling till I could bear to watch no longer, feeling a
fierce feverish suspense as to what he might say, and my pulse beating
so quick that I could scarce stand still. For was not the decisive
moment very nigh when we should know, from these parched-up lips, the
value of the jewel, and whether it was worth risking life for, whether
the fabric of our hopes was built on sure foundation or on slippery
sand? So I turned my back on the diamond merchant, and looked out of the
window, waiting all the while to catch the slightest word that might
come from his lips.

I have found then and at other times that in such moments, though the
mind be occupied entirely by one overwhelming thought, yet the eyes take
in, as it were unwittingly, all that lies before them, so that we can
afterwards recall a face or landscape of which at the time we took no
note. Thus it was with me that night, for though I was thinking of
nothing but the jewel, yet I noted everything that could be seen through
the window, and the recollection was of use to me later on. The window
was made in the French style, reaching down to the floor, and opening
like a door with two leaves. It led on to a little balcony, and now stood
open (for the day was still very hot), and on the wall below was trained
a pear-tr