I should have added that when we returned from the diamond fields Mr. Janin took a package of the gems we had found to Tiffany for valuation. We had estimated them to be worth $20,000, but the jeweler scaled this down to $8000. This didn’t disturb Janin. He considered it a “bear” movement. CHAPTER XXXI. RUDE AWAKENING FOLLOWS DREAMS OF BOUNDLESS WEALTH; WHILE PROMOTERS WAIT FOR SPRING WORD SUDDENLY COMES THAT THEY WERE VICTIMS OF CLEVER SWINDLE. _Diamond Already Cut Reveals Fraud; Gems Had Been Carried to Scene of “Find” and Planted Like Seeds._ Just what might have happened in a single month of wild speculation had the stock of the San Francisco and New York Mining and Commercial Company been placed in any considerable quantity on the market, is hard to tell. But one thing is very certain--it would have caused a catastrophe almost without parallel in the civilized world. The public was keyed up to the point of a speculative craze such as even the Comstock never saw, not alone in San Francisco but in nearly every financial center of the earth. Millions upon millions would have been invested. The shares would have soared to fabulous figures. Banks would have advanced money on these prime securities, as was the custom in those times. And then the awful crash! There would have been more ruins in financialdom than San Francisco exhibited after the fire. Every day the mails were loaded with letters from eager correspondents making inquiries for stock. The best and unanswerable proof that everyone connected with the company acted in absolute good faith is to be found in the fact that not a share changed hands. [Illustration: LOUIS SLOSS President Alaska Commercial Co., director Diamond Co.] Meanwhile, however, handsome offices were engaged, and David D. Colton was installed in all the dignity of general manager. This was long before the date of typewriters, and it required several clerks to answer letters. A large map showing the general outlines and physical characteristics of the 3000 acres claimed by the company was displayed in the office. It showed the relative position of Discovery Claim, Ruby Gulch, Diamond Flat, Sapphire Hollow, and other locations with names equally suggestive of wealth without limit. Many longing eyes were cast on that map by would-be speculators. The company had considered a plan for holding and working what was known as Discovery Claim on its own account, and granting concessions in the remaining territory for so much down in cash and a royalty on the gems recovered.