l
present, he asked cheerily:

"Well, what news of the wanderer?"

Helen sighed.

"None as yet."

The visitor chuckled as he crossed the room to shake hands with Ray and
Mr. Steell.

"Oh, well you must be patient. He'll soon be there, and then we shall
hear wonderful tales."

"What's the latest news from the seat of war--I mean the mines?" asked
Ray roguishly.

Mr. Parker smiled.

"Everything is going well, thank you."

"No new big finds?" demanded Mr. Steell.

The president laughed. Shaking his head, he said:

"We can't expect to make such finds every day. If we often picked up
stones of that size, we'd soon own all the wealth in the world."

"More likely," retorted Ray quickly, "that diamonds would become so
cheap that children would buy them for marbles."

Mr. Steell looked interested.

"What is the real market value of the two big gems you have already
picked up?"

The president looked at him for a moment in silence. Then, slowly, he
said:

"A very conservative estimate is $1,200,000 for both stones. They are
the purest white. There are larger stones in the world, but none of
finer quality."

"What do you expect to do with them?"

"First, they will be brought here and exhibited in their crude state.
You can easily realize the value to our company of such a gigantic
advertisement. Crowds will flock to see the wonderful crystals. The
newspapers all over the country will give them the widest publicity.
After everybody has seen them, we shall probably send them to Amsterdam
to be cut."

"Then, what will you do with them?"

"To tell you the truth, we have not made up our minds. Such very large
stones have really no commercial value. Take for instance the famous
Cullinan, the wonder of the modern world. That gem was so huge that it
was of no real value to the owners; so, unable to realize on it
themselves, they induced the Transvaal government to buy it and present
it to the King of England. We shall try to be a little more practical.
Our first duty is to our stockholders. We shall probably have the
stones cut up into a number of smaller stones, on which we shall be
able to realize a large sum. It's a rare stroke of good fortune for
us."

Helen had said nothing, but stood listening in silence. It was less of
the money involved in the adventure that she was thinking than of her
husband's safety.

"Suppose Kenneth loses the gems?" she faltered.

The old gentleman laughed.