lity, and at last he shook his head.

"No," he said flatly. "No."

"Laadham, ve Amerigans produce anyding," the German went on
patiently. "In eighdeen hundred und forty-eight ve didn't know
California vas full of gold; und so late as eighdeen hundred und
ninedy-four ve didn't know der Klondike vas full of gold. Der
greadest diamond fields ve know now are in Africa, bud in eighdeen
hundred und sixty-six ve didn't know _id_! Dere iss no reason ve
should _nod_ produce diamonds."

"But look here, Schultze," Mr. Latham expostulated, "it's--it's
unheard of."

"So vas der Mizzizzippi River until id was discovered," the German
argued complacently. "You are a diamond dealer, Laadham, bud you
don'd know much aboud dem from whey dey come at. Iss Czenki here?
Send for him. He knows more aboud diamonds as any man vat ever
lived."

Mr. Latham sent an office boy for Czenki, who a few minutes later
appeared with an inquiry in his beady black eyes and a nod of
recognition for Mr. Schultze.

"Sid down, Mr. Czenki," the German invited. "Sid down und draw a
long breath, und den dell Mr. Laadham here someding aboud diamonds."

"What is it, please?" Mr. Czenki asked of Mr. Latham.

"Mr. Czenki, have you any very definite idea as to where those
diamonds came from?" asked Mr. Latham.

"No," was the unhesitating response.

"Is it possible that they might have been found in the--in the United
States?" Mr. Latham went on.

"Certainly. They might have been found anywhere."

"As a matter of fact, were any diamonds _ever_ found in the United
States?"

"Yes, frequently. One very large diamond was found in 1855 at
Manchester, across the James River from Richmond, Virginia. It
weighed twenty-four carats when cut, and is the largest, I believe,
ever found in this country."

Mr. Latham seemed surprised.

"Why, you astonish me," he remarked.

"Vait a minute und he'll astonish you some more," Mr. Schultze put in
confidently. "Vere else in der United States haf diamonds been
found, Czenki?"

"In California, in North Carolina, and in Hall County, Georgia,"
replied the expert readily. "There is good ground for the belief
that the stone found at Richmond had been washed down from the
mountains farther in the interior, and, if this is true, there is a
substantial basis for the scientific hypothesis that diamond fields
lie somewhere in the Appalachian Range, because the diamonds found in
both North Carolina and Georgia were