I suppose, of the
great amber diamond, 'The Invincible'?"

Kennedy nodded and I thought hurriedly of all the big stones I had ever
heard--the Pitt, the Orloff, the Koh-i-noor, the Star of the South, the
Cullinan, and others.

"The Invincible, you know," he added, "is the largest amber diamond in
the world, almost the size of the famous Cullinan, over three hundred
carats. It was found in the dry diggings of the Vaal River, a few miles
from Kimberley. The dry diggings are independent of the De Beers
combine, of course. Well, its owner has always been in the position of
Mark Twain's man with the million-dollar bank-note who found it too
large to cash. No one knows just what an amber diamond of that size is
really worth. This one is almost perfect, resembles the huge top of a
decanter stopper. It's a beautiful orange color and has been estimated
at--well, as high as close to a quarter of a million, though, as I said,
that is all guesswork."

"Yes?" remarked Kennedy, more for politeness than anything else.

Wade leaned over closer.

"The Invincible," he whispered, shielding his lips from the keen, biting
gale, "was last known to belong to the De Guerres, of Antwerp. One of my
special agents abroad has cabled me to look out for it. He thinks there
is reason to believe it will be smuggled into America for safe keeping
during the troubles in Belgium."

It seemed to make no difference to the customs man that Kennedy did not
exactly welcome him with open arms. "The De Guerres are well-known
dealers in diamonds, one of the leading houses in the 'city of
diamonds,' as Antwerp has been called. One of the De Guerres is on the
_Sylvania_, the junior partner--" he paused, then added,--"the husband,
I believe, of Rawaruska. I thought perhaps you might be willing to try
to help me."

"I should be glad to," replied Kennedy tersely, pondering what the
officer had told us.

Nothing more was said on the trip and at last we came to the _Sylvania_,
lying grim and dark of hull off the little cluster of Quarantine
buildings, with myriads of twinkling lights on her, far above but
scarcely relieving the blackness of the leviathan form.

Thompson, the purser, a quiet, unexcitable Englishman, met us as we came
over the side, and for the moment we lost sight of our new-found friend,
Wade.

"Perhaps you didn't know it," informed Thompson as we made our way
through the ship, "but Rawaruska was married--had been for some time."

"Who was