"WITH LONG ARMS AND VERY SHORT LEGS"—Page 216
"WITH LONG ARMS AND VERY SHORT LEGS"—Page 216
"You say you were there at dusk. Why didn't you see it by day light?"
"Well, the—er—climate is peculiar. The air, if you can call it air, is so very rarefied as to be no protection whatever against the heat of the sun. And the surface of the ground, by daylight, would burn your feet. And by night, there being no atmosphere twixt you and space, the temperature is about 300 degrees below zero."
"Three hundred degrees!"
Cyrus smiled and nodded. "That's what the scientists say. I had no thermometer with me."
"But no human being could live in such a temperature!"
"That is why I stuck to the twilight. And I suspect that is why the cities were built in the cañons."
"Why, of course! That explains it. I was wondering what on earth could induce anybody to want to live in those God-forsaken chasms."
Mr. Bressani, however, had a deeper interest in abnormal gems than in climatic conditions. "Did you find this piece all alone, by itself,—apart from others?"
"No; other pieces were near it."
"But not so large as this."
"Oh, yes! Some were much larger."
Mr. Bressani frowned. "Larger than this?"
"Yes, much larger."
"But not diamonds—not this same material?"
"I suppose they were. They looked just like it."
"Then why didn't you bring a larger piece? It would be a fabulous fortune, in itself."
Cyrus seemed uncertain as to his answer. "Well—there were—many reasons. One was that I did not know they were diamonds. Another was that I needed both hands for other purposes and could not carry—just at that moment—anything too large to go in my pocket. In fact I tried to pick up a beautifully carved fragment nearly the size of a football, but I had to drop it for this smaller one."
The three jewelers regarded him with eager faces, as children listen to a fairy tale. Mr. Bressani in a low, somewhat awe stricken tone, said:
"And there is really much of it?"
"Lots of it."
"But, of course, you are not absolutely sure it is the same material?"
"Well—I saw the other part of the one in your hand lying beside it, and it was four or five times the size of this one."
The three men turned to each other, as if to discover the effect, on other human beings, of such a statement.
The Senior Partner leaned forward, each hand grasping an arm of his chair. The Bressani eyebrows shot aloft, and he came a step nearer. Nephew William adjusted his lips for a whistle, but changed his mind. No sound came forth.
It was the Senior Partner who was the first to find himself, and return to business. Leaning back in hischair he cleared his throat. "Mr. Alton, if you were not an old friend of William's, and if I knew nothing about you, I should say that Munchausen, by comparison, was a clumsy beginner. But your own reputation and that stone in Mr. Bressani's hand, are proofs to the contrary—the best of proofs. Now let us get to business. Is it your wish to sell this diamond to us?"
"Yes, sir. That's why I came here. And I would prefer dealing with your house, if you care to bother with it."
The Senior Partner smiled. "It would be an unenterprising jeweler who declined to bother with what will soon become the most famous diamond of history—ancient or modern. If agreeable to you, Mr. Alton, you can leave the stone with us, and we will give you, now, a receipt for an uncut diamond of seventy-one hundred carats, value unknown. A few days hence, at your convenience, we will submit for your consideration a plan by which you shall receive a certain amount at once in cash, the balance to be governed by the final value of the stones as they are cut or sold. Would that be satisfactory to you?"
"Perfectly."
"And perhaps you will agree to give us the preference if you decide later to flood the market with diamonds the size of paving stones."
Cyrus smiled. "Yes, sir, I shall be glad to do so."
A few moments later, the receipt in his pocket, Cyrus left the private office, escorted by William. Atthe street door, as the young jeweler, at parting, shook hands with his friend, he said: "And, by the way, old man, when you can divulge the awful secret of where you found it don't waste a second in telling us."
"If there is a humorous side to this morning's interview, Billy, it is in the name of that very place."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I mentioned the name, and more than once."
"Stuff!"
"On my honor."
"What was it?"
"Oh, that's too easy! Good-by."
And he left William standing in the doorway,—still guessing.
Alone together, the unparalleled, incredible wonder on the desk before them, the Senior Partner and Mr. Bressani remained silent for a time, as if recovering from a dream. For the twentieth time that morning, Mr. Bressani murmured: "It seems impossible!" Then, after another silence: "But where did he get it? Has he been to the very center of the earth?"
"Or," said the Senior Partner, with a shrug, "to the mountains of the moon."