Now Mr. Bressani was more than an expert. His instinct in the matter of gems was abnormal. It was something more than instinct. It was a singular, innate sense; one of those unexplained faculties that enables its possessor to judge offhand, with certainty and precision, where others must weigh and reason. In important matters he was sought by jewelers. And there was no recorded case in which he had been deceived. Now, as he held the doubtful object in his fat, white fingers, he suspected from the smile on the face of the Senior Partner that a joke was in the air. When he saw what was in his hand--apparently a piece of greenish glass--he raised his heavy black eyebrows, and, with a sidelong glance, studied the faces of the three men, one after another, to make sure they were not laughing at him. Nephew William smiled but shook his head. "No, we are serious. Tell us what you think." Still doubtful, Mr. Bressani held it nearer his eye, turned it over in his large, baby fingers, moved it slowly up and down, evidently guessing its weight, and slowly passed a thumb over its surface. Then, as if surprised, he stepped hastily to the window and held it between his eyes and the light. Wheeling about, his eyebrows darted up in surprise. These eyebrows, thick and heavy, flew heavenward so swiftly and they traveled so far that they seemed to pull upon his big black eyes to twice their usual size and roundness. These astonished orbs he rolled toward the three men as if startled by a miracle. They proclaimed a bewildering, overwhelming astonishment that his half-open lips could not express. [Illustration: "BUT WHO EVER SAW SUCH A DIAMOND?"--_Page 199_] "Why, it's a diamond!" The Senior Partner rose and moved toward him. "Are you sure?" But Mr. Bressani did not reply. Lost in wonder, apparently unconscious of his surroundings, he turned the object over and over, in every light, and at every angle. "Extraordinary!" he murmured. "Extraordinary! It doesn't seem possible." "But are you sure?" repeated the Senior Partner. "Absolutely." "But who ever saw such a diamond?" "Nobody! Nobody! It's incredible--miraculous--inconceivable. There never _was_ such a thing!" "Just what I have been saying," from the Senior Partner. "Nobody would ever cut a diamond in that shape. And look at the size of it! And the color!" "Yes, yes! It's hard to believe!" "But you _do_ believe it?" The bushy eyebrows went up, then down, with a shrug of shoulders. "Believe it? I know it! What do _you_ think it is, glass?" "Well--er--yes, to be honest. I didn't know what else it could be. No human being ever saw a diamond of those dimensions." "We are seeing it now. But whose is it?" "It belongs to Mr. Alton." "I congratulate you, Mr. Alton. You possess the most amazing diamond in history or fiction." Cyrus bowed. "Then it is the largest you have ever seen?" "Twice over. The famous Cullinan stone, the largest yet discovered, was about half this size."