though being in reality no whit better off than
before, would deem themselves the inferiors of none and the superiors
to most; in support of which vain dreams they would strive to their own
sore detriment. For as in the beginning the sons of Adam were equal,
and as of their descendants some rose to be of ruling classes through
mental and physical fitness, so if all men were to be levelled again
to-day, to-morrow they would be uneven once more, and the next day more
uneven, the weak getting trampled under foot, and the strong fighting a
red path upward with their ruthless sword.'"

"I need hardly inform you," interrupted Weems, "that those crude ideas
of political economy are not what we modern thinkers accept. Even John
Stuart--but I will tell you about that afterwards. Please let me hear
how the diamonds are made. Never mind about the other twaddle. It pains
one to listen to it."

"As I told you, the actual Recipe is not in the diary here. Lully wrote
it out, so he says, in imperishable form, in a place where he conceived
it would pass down through the centuries absolutely undisturbed. I am
not quite so confident about that as he is, as I know the
inquisitiveness of the present generation better than he could imagine
it. But to cut the story short, he found a way into one of the Talayots
of Minorca, carved his secret upon the plaster of the interior, hid the
entrance again, and came away. He says that the Talayot was believed by
the Minorcans to be solid throughout, and adds that his only confidant,
the priest who helped him to gain the internal chamber, died of a fever
two days afterwards. Then he mentions the name of the spot--Talaiti de
Talt, near Mercadal--and says if you dig a man's length down in the
middle of the side facing seaward, you'll come across the entrance
passage. Oddly enough, I've been at Mercadal myself, when a brig I was
on was weather-bound in Port Mahon; and though I don't recollect this
Talaiti de Talt, it's very probable I saw it, as we overhauled all the
Talayots in the neighbourhood."

"By the way, what is a Talayot? I'm--ar--sorry to confess
ignorance----"

That last made me grin, which he saw, and didn't like a bit. However, I
pulled my face together again, and explained. "'Talayot' is a generic
term for the groups of prehistoric remains which lie all over the
island. There are monoliths, short underground passages, duolithic
altars, and rude pyramids. Talaiti de Talt is evidently one o