r; and the second day's
labour resulted in a find of five fine and eight medium-sized stones.
Thus the toilers progressed, each day yielding them a better return for
their labour, until late in the afternoon of the fifth day they struck
the "pocket," so confidently looked for by the professor. Then the gems
were found in such abundance that it was scarcely possible to turn over
a shovel-full of soil without finding one or more; while it was by no
means uncommon to turn up as many as half a dozen at one stroke of the
shovel. This extraordinarily prolific yield lasted for no fewer than
four days, during which they accumulated such an enormous quantity of
gems--practically every one of which was of exceptional value--that at
length, although the mine was very far from being exhausted, even the
professor declared himself satisfied, while Colonel Sziszkinski found
himself suddenly relieved of a very heavy load of anxiety by the
acquisition of a sufficient number of valuable gems to yield him a very
handsome fortune if discreetly placed upon the market.

"That, I suspect, will be your difficulty, Professor; you will be so
anxious to realise that you will flood the market, and cause a big
depreciation in the value of rubies," remarked Lethbridge, rather
caustically, when after their last day at the mine they met again at the
dinner-table.

Von Schalckenberg laughed. "I will take my chance of that, my friend,"
he replied. "But have no fear; I will not flood the market, or lower
the value of rubies. There are plenty of people who are always ready to
buy fine stones--when they get the chance, which is not often; and I
have a friend in Amsterdam whose knowledge of the market is second to
none in the world. I shall put my rubies into his hands to sell, and he
will know how to dispose of them without flooding the market. You had
better let the same man have yours, Boris, my friend. What do you think
of doing with yours, Sir Reginald?"

"I?" returned Sir Reginald. "Oh, I shall pick out the finest, and have
them cut and set as a suite for Lady Elphinstone; and, as for the rest
of them--well, I don't quite know what I shall do with them. But,
anyhow, I promise you that I will not put them on the market early
enough to spoil the sale of your stones."

"Ah!" exclaimed the professor, appealing to the company at large; "see
what an advantage it is to be a rich man. What do you propose to do
with yours, Lethbridge?"

"Oh, I