"There is no need to talk all day," he said, doggedly. "Now I am going to tell you something you don't know. If your boast is justified--if you really own as many diamonds, and as good ones, as you say you own--there must be a great deal of discretion exercised in putting them on the market. Diamonds are valuable only because they are rare. There is a limit to their possible purchasers. If the diamond mines of the world were to pour all their resources forthwith into the lap of the public, there would be such a slump that prices would drop fifty, sixty, even eighty per cent. Do you follow me?" "Yes," nodded Philip. A week earlier he would have said, "Yes, sir," but his soul was bitter yet against Isaacstein. "Very well. It may take me months, years, to realize your collection. To do it properly I must have some idea of its magnitude. If there are exceptionally large stones among it, they will be dealt with separately. They may rival or eclipse the few historical diamonds of the world, but their worth can only be measured by the readiness of some fool to pay hundreds of thousands for them. See?" "Yes," nodded Philip again. His sententiousness brought the man to the point. "Therefore you must take me into your confidence. What quantity of stones do you possess, and what are their sizes? I must know." Isaacstein, cooler now, pursed his lips and pressed his thumbs together until they appeared to be in danger of dislocation. It was his favorite attitude when engaged in a deal. It signified that he had cornered his victim. Philip, appealed to in this strictly commercial way, could not fail to see it was to his own interest to tell his chosen expert the exact facts, and nothing but the facts. The boy, singularly unflurried in tone and manner, hazarded an inquiry. "What amount of ordinary diamonds, in their money value I mean, can you dispose of readily in the course of a year, Mr. Isaacstein?" "Oh, two or three hundred thousand pounds' worth; it is a matter largely dependent on the condition of trade generally. But that may be regarded as a minimum." "And the bigger stones, worth many thousands each?" "It is impossible to say. Taking them in the lump, at values varying from a thousand each to fancy figures, perhaps fifty thousand pounds' worth." "It would be safe to reckon on a quarter of a million a year, all told?" "Quite safe." "Then, Mr. Isaacstein, I will supply you with diamonds of that value every year for many years." The Jew relaxed the pressure on his thumbs. Indeed he passed a tremulous hand across his forehead. He was beaten again, and he knew it--worsted by a gutter snipe in a war of wits. The contest had one excellent effect. It stopped all further efforts on Isaacstein's part to wrest Philip's secret from him. Thenceforth he asked for, and obtained, such diamonds as he needed, and resolutely forbade himself the luxury of questioning or probing the extent of his juvenile patron's resources.