"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 his chair 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. At the 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." [Illustration] XIII A MESSAGE