The Diamond Master | Page 6

egotism in
manner or appearance--a fair type of the brisk, courteous young
business man of New York. He wore a tweed suit, and in his left hand
carried a small sole-leather grip. For an instant he stood, framed by the
doorway, meeting the sharp scrutiny of the assembled jewelers with a
frank smile. For a little time no one spoke--merely gazed--and finally:
"Mr. Latham?" queried Mr. Wynne, looking from one to the other.
Mr. Latham came to his feet with a sudden realization of his
responsibilities as a temporary host, and introductions followed. Mr.
Wynne passed along on one side of the table, shaking hands with each
man in turn until he came to Mr. Czenki. Mr. Latham introduced them.
"Mr. Czenki," repeated Mr. Wynne, and he allowed his eyes to rest
frankly upon the expert for a moment. "Your name has been repeated to
me so often that I almost feel as if I knew you."
Mr. Czenki bowed without speaking.
"I am assuming that this is the Mr. Czenki who was associated with Mr.
Barnato and Mr. Zeidt?" the young man went on.
"That is correct, yes," replied the expert.
"And I believe, too, that you once did some special work for Professor
Henri Moissan in Paris?"
Mr. Czenki's black eyes seemed to be searching the other's face for an

instant, and then he nodded affirmatively.
"I made some tests for him, yes," he volunteered.
Mr. Wynne passed on along the other side of the long table, and
stopped at the end. Mr. Latham was at his right, Mr. Schultze at his left,
and Mr. Czenki sat at the far end, facing him. The small sole-leather
grip was on the floor at Mr. Wynne's feet. For a moment he permitted
himself to enjoy the varying expressions of interest on the faces around
the table.
"Gentlemen," he began, then, "you all, probably, have seen my letter to
Mr. Latham, or at least you are aware of its contents, so you understand
that the diamonds which were mailed to you are your property. I am not
a eleemosynary institution for the relief of diamond merchants," and he
smiled a little, "for the gifts are preliminary to a plain business
proposition--a method of concentrating your attention, and, in
themselves, part payment, if I may say it, for any worry or
inconvenience which followed upon their appearance. There are only
five of them in the world, they are precisely alike, and they are yours. I
beg of you to accept them with my compliments."
Mr. Schultze tilted his chair back a little, the better to study the young
man's countenance.
"I am going to make some remarkable statements," the young man
continued, "but each of those statements is capable of demonstration
here and now. Don't hesitate to interrupt if there is a question in your
mind, because everything I shall say is vital to each of you as bearing
on the utter destruction of the world's traffic in diamonds. It is coming,
gentlemen, it is coming, just as inevitably as that night follows day,
unless you stop it. You can stop it by concerted action, in a manner
which I shall explain later."
He paused and glanced along the table. Only the face of Mr. Czenki
was impassive.
"Since the opening of the fields in South Africa," Mr. Wynne resumed

quietly, "something like five hundred million dollars' 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