ls you many stories in order to
keep your mind off the scratching and the scraping. He told me so many
stories that I grew tired of his telling them and I refused to
listen--looked away whenever he commenced; that made the guide quite
angry. I remember that toward evening he took his Turkish cap off his
head and swung it around in the air. The gesture I did not understand
and I did not dare look at him for fear I should become the victim of
another story. But, although I am not a woman, I did look, and the
instant I turned my eyes upon that worthy guide he was off again. Said
he, "I will tell you a story now which reserve for my particular
friends!" So then, counting myself a particular friend, I listened, and
I have always been glad I did.

He said there once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian
by the name of Al Hafed. He said that Al Hafed owned a very large farm
with orchards, grain fields and gardens. He was a contented and wealthy
man--contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was
contented. One day there visited this old farmer one of those ancient
Buddhist priests, and he sat down by Al Hafed's fire and told that old
farmer how this world of ours was made. He said that this world was once
a mere bank of fog, which is scientifically true, and he said that the
Almighty thrust his finger into the bank of fog and then began slowly to
move his finger around and gradually to increase the speed of his finger
until at last he whirled that bank of fog into a solid ball of fire, and
it went rolling through the universe, burning its way through other
cosmic banks of fog, until it condensed the moisture without, and fell
in floods of rain upon the heated surface and cooled the outward crust.
Then the internal flames burst through the cooling crust and threw up
the mountains and made the hills of the valley of this wonderful world
of ours. If this internal melted mass burst out and copied very quickly
it became granite; that which cooled less quickly became silver; and
less quickly, gold; and after gold diamonds were made. Said the old
priest, "A diamond is a congealed drop of sunlight."

This is a scientific truth also. You all know that a diamond is pure
carbon, actually deposited sunlight--and he said another thing I would
not forget: he declared that a diamond is the last and highest of God's
mineral creations, as a woman is the last and highest of God's animal
creations. I suppose that i