The Diamond Master | Page 8

able to
identify it?"
"I would be able to identify it," said Mr. Cawthorne positively.
He had turned at the window quickly; it was the first time he had
spoken. Mr. Wynne walked around the table to Mr. Czenki, and Mr.
Cawthorne approached them.
"Suppose, then, you gentlemen examine this together," suggested Mr.
Wynne.
He lifted a great glittering jewel from the leather packet and held it
aloft that all might see. Then he carefully placed it on the table in front
of the experts; the others came to their feet and stood gazing as if
fascinated.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Mr. Cawthorne.
For a minute or more the two experts studied the huge diamond--one
hundred and six carats and a fraction--beneath their glasses, and finally
Mr. Cawthorne picked it up and led the way toward the window. Mr.

Czenki and the German followed him.
"Gentlemen," and Mr. Cawthorne now turned sharply to face the others,
"this is the Koh-i-noor! Mr. Czenki didn't mention it, but I was one of
the three experts who had opportunity to examine the Koh-i-noor. This
is the Koh-i-noor!"
Startled, questioning eyes were turned upon Mr. Wynne; he was
smiling. There was a question in his face as he regarded Mr. Czenki.
"It is either the Koh-i-noor or an exact duplicate," said Mr. Czenki.
"It is the Koh-i-noor," repeated Mr. Cawthorne doggedly.
"Id seems to me," interposed Mr. Schultze, "dat if der Koh-i-noor vas
missing somebody would haf heard, ain'd id? I haf nod heard. Mr.
Czenki made a misdake der oder day--maybe you make id to-day?"
"You have made a mistake, I assure you, Mr. Cawthorne," remarked
Mr. Wynne quietly. "You identify that as the Koh-i-noor, of course, by
a slight inaccuracy in one of the facets adjoining the collet. That
inaccuracy is known to every diamond expert--the mistake you make is
a compliment to that as a replica."
He resumed his position at the end of the table, and Mr. Schultze sat
beside him. Amazement was a thing of the past, as far as he was
concerned. Mr. Czenki dropped into his chair again.
"And now, Mr. Czenki, speaking as an expert, what would you say was
the most perfect diamond the world?" asked Mr. Wynne.
"The five blue-white stones you mailed to these gentlemen," replied the
expert without hesitation.
"Perhaps I should have specified the most perfect diamond known to
the world at large," Mr. Wynne added smilingly.
"The Regent."

Again Mr. Cawthorne looked around, with bewilderment in his eyes.
The others nodded their approval of Mr. Czenki's opinion.
"The Regent, yes," Mr. Wynne agreed; "one hundred and thirty-six and
three-quarter carats, cut as a brilliant, worn by Napoleon in his
sword-hilt, now in the Louvre at Paris, the property of the French
Government--valued at two and a half million dollars." His hand
disappeared into the leather packet again; poised on his finger-tips,
when he withdrew them, was another huge jewel. He dropped it into
Mr. Schultze's hand. "There is further proof that the diamond output
has increased fiftyfold."
Mr. Schultze seemed dazed as he turned and twisted the diamond in his
hand. After a moment he passed it on down the table without a word.
"A duplicate also," and Mr. Wynne glanced at Mr. Cawthorne. "It is
reasonably certain that you would have heard of that if it had
disappeared from the Louvre." He turned to Mr. Schultze again. "I may
add that this fiftyfold increase in output is not confined to small
stones," he went on tauntingly. "They are of all sizes and values. For
instance?"
He lifted still another jewel from the packet and held it aloft for an
instant.
"The Orloff!" gasped Mr. 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