Diamond X

“ He would not ask any one to help him because he was afraid he would be kept from doing what he wanted. With the aid of an old chair, he got the harness on old Diamond. The dear old horse opened his mouth for the bit just as if Diamond was giving him an apple. He fastened the cheek-strap very carefully, and got all the pieces of harness on and buckled. By this time some of the men were watching him to see if he would get it all done by himself. And when he put old Diamond between the shafts, got his whip, and jumped up on the box, the men broke into a cheer. ”

“ When Diamond went home that night, he carried one pound, one shilling and six-pence. His mother had grown very anxious and was almost afraid to look when she heard his cab coming at last. But there was the old horse, and there was the cab, all right! And there was Diamond on the box his face as triumphant as a full moon! One of the men took the horse to put him up and Diamond ran into the house and into the arms of his mother! ”

“ One day, they gave him a curry comb and brush to try his hand on old Diamond's coat. He used them deftly and thoroughly as far as he could reach.
"You must make haste and grow," the men told him. "It won't do to clean a horse half way up and leave his back dirty, you know."
"Put me up," said Diamond. In a moment he was on the old horse's back with the comb and brush. There he combed and brushed and combed and brushed. Every now and then, old Diamond would whisk his tail and once he sent the comb flying out of the stable door to the great amusement of the men. ”

“ Get in, Diamond."
Diamond soon found the woven nest and crept into it. The next moment he was rising in the air. North Wind grew towering up to the place of the clouds. Her hair went streaming out from her till it spread like a mist over the stars. She flung herself abroad in space. Diamond made a little place through the woven meshes of her hair and peeped through that, for he did not dare look over the top of his nest.
The earth was rushing past like a river or a sea below him. Trees and water and green grass hurried away beneath. ”

“ Captain Diamond's brilliant eyes expanded beneath their dusky brows, and after holding his breath a moment, he indulged in the first and last apology for a laugh by which I was to see his solemn, visage contorted. It was profoundly grotesque, but it was perfectly noiseless. "Take you in?" he softly growled. "I wouldn't go in again before my time's up for a thousand times that sum." And he thrust out his hand from the folds of his cloak and exhibited a small agglommeration of coin, knotted into the corner of an old silk pocket-handkerchief. "I stick to my bargain no less, but no more!" ”

“ But I'll set the automatic steering gear now, Mr. Damon, and then you will be relieved.”
Mr. Jenks was gazing off toward the west—to where he hoped to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain.
“How do you like it?” asked Tom.
“It's great,” replied the diamond man. “I've never been in an airship before, and it's different than what I expected; but it's great! It's the only craft that will serve our purpose among the towering mountain peaks, where the diamond makers are hidden. I hope we can find them.” ”

“ There were about a hundred diamonds weighing from ten to fifty carats each, and they were worth about 20,000 pounds. Something seemed to prompt him to put the diamonds back into the safe; but on the Diamond Fields men get used to the idea of carrying about stones of great value; and then he thought of Jenny Hamilton’s bewitching little face, so he put the diamonds in his pocket, and started off for her house. ”

“ First we were to send a large sample of the diamonds to Tiffany, of New York, then, as now, the greatest American authority on precious stones, and have them thoroughly examined and appraised. If their value were proved beyond peradventure, then Messrs. Ralston, Lent, Roberts, Dodge and myself were to choose a mining expert to whom Arnold and Slack agreed to exhibit the diamond fields and permit a full examination of the same.
Nothing could possibly be fairer to all, and Arnold and Slack easily consented to these conditions, without a moment’s hesitation. ”

“ Tom and the others devoted several hours to arranging their staterooms and bunks, and getting their clothing stowed away, and when this was done Mr. Parker and Mr. Jenks sat gazing off into space.
"It's hard to realize that we are really in an airship," observed the diamond man. "At first I thought I would be frightened, but I'm not a bit. It doesn't seem as if anything could happen."
"Something is likely to happen soon," said Mr. Parker, suddenly, as he gazed at some weather instruments on the cabin wall.
"Bless my soul! Don't say that!" cried Mr. Damon. "What is it?" ”

“ They can't keep us here forever. They'll have to let us go some time." Following their capture, Folwell and Munson, the latter the stowaway of the airship, had been in earnest conversation regarding our friends, but what conclusion they had reached the adventurers could only guess.
"And we didn't have time to examine the diamond-making machinery close enough so that we could duplicate it if necessary," complained Tom, a little later. ”

“ Mr. Jenks and Tom cast one longing look behind at the complicated and expensive machinery that had been installed in the cave by the diamond makers. They had abandoned it, and in it lay the secret of making precious gems. But there was no time to stop now, and investigate.
“This way,” urged Bill Renshaw. “We'll soon be out.”
“But won't it be dangerous to go outside?” asked Mr. Damon. “Shan't we be struck by lightning? There is some protection in here.”
“None at all,” said Mr. Parker, quickly. “This mountain is a natural lightning rod. ”

“ The adventurers ceased their whispered talk, and eagerly watched the diamond makers. Folwell and Munson were hurrying to and fro in the big cave, attending to the adjustments of the machinery.
"On your insulated plates—all of you," Folwell gave the order. "This is going to be a terrific storm. The gage shows twice the power we have ever used, and it's creeping up every minute! We'll have more diamonds than we ever had before!"
"Yes, if the mountain isn't destroyed," added Mr. Parker, in a low voice. "I predict that it will be split from top to bottom!"
"Comforting," thought Tom, grimly. ”

“ I'm always sent out of the cave just before they make the gems. But I know they've made some lately, and have sold 'em. I want my share."
"Look here!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks, quickly, wishing to strike while the iron was hot. "I'll make you a proposition. Show us how to get into that cave, unknown to the diamond makers, and I'll pay you twice what they agreed to. ”

“ He married a lady of good family and some property, who was fascinated by his good looks and his reputation as a hero. He is prosperous and respected, and he has almost forgotten all about the days when he seemed to be such a hopeless ne’er-do-well.
Story 3. Diamond Cut Diamond. It was a delightfully cool evening, after a hot dusty day on the Diamond Fields, and Mr Moses Moss, attorney-at-law of Kimberley, South Africa, was sitting under the verandah of his house, smoking a cigar, and sipping a cool drink as it was his custom to do before turning in for the night. ”

“ I came East, and tried to get help to discover the cave of the diamond makers, but I was unsuccessful. I needed an airship, as I said, and no person who could operate one, would agree to go with me on the quest. Again I received a warning to drop all search for the diamond makers, but I persisted, and about a week ago I found I was being shadowed."
"Shadowed; by whom?" asked Tom.
"By a man I never remember seeing, but who, I have no doubt, is one of the diamond-making gang." ”

“ From their hiding-place Tom and the others could see the flashing gems, for, in spite of the fact that the diamonds were uncut, some of them sparkled most brilliantly, due to the peculiar manner in which they were made.
"We have the secret of the diamonds!" whispered Mr. Jenks. "There must be a quart of the gems there!"
The men gathered about Folwell, uttering exclamations of delight. The diamonds were too hot to handle yet.
"That's going some!" exclaimed the chief of the diamond makers. "We have a small fortune here."
There was a sudden commotion at one end of the cave. A man rushed in. ”

“ But he had better go back with you now."
"Come along then, Diamond," said his father. Diamond jumped across into the other cab and they drove away home.
It was not long before Diamond was a great favorite with all the men about the stables—he was so jolly! It was not the best place in the world for him to be brought up in and at first he did hear a good many rough and bad words. But as he did not like them, he never learned to say them and they did him little harm. Before long, the men grew rather [66] ashamed to use them. ”

“ His father was taking the horse, Diamond, to have new shoes put on him, and knowing that little Diamond, like all small boys, liked a ride, he set him on the horse and taking the bridle led the two Diamonds away.
The blacksmith's shop was some distance away, deeper in London. As they crossed the angle of a square, Diamond, who was looking about to see if any one noticed him riding upon the big horse like a man, saw a little girl sweeping a crossing before a lady and holding out her hand for a penny. The lady had no penny and the little girl was disappointed. ”

“ The boys parted with hearty farewells—Maurice going home, Macgregor to his rooms, and Horace accompanying Fred to his boarding-house, where he intended to find quarters for himself.
"And now for the great question!" said Horace, when they were once indoors. "Are the diamonds worth anything, or are they not? I can't think of anything else till I find out."
"Why, I thought you were sure—" began Fred.
"So I am—in a general sort of way. But I'm not a diamond expert, and I may be deceived. It's just possible that the things may not be real diamonds at all. ”

“ Platzoff was gone past recovery. Of all men living he, Ducie, was probably the only one to whom the existence of the Diamond was known; or, at least, the place where it was hidden. Dead men tell no tales. If he were to make the Diamond his,--and had he not a right to do so, having paid such a tremendous price for it--who in all the wide world would be one bit the wiser? ”

“ Thomas Hope and his son was displayed, all the glory of their Hope chest, including the mysterious blue stone that came to be called the Hope diamond. There on white velvet lay the great Black Diamond of Bahia, weighing 350 carats, so hard that no one had been able to shape it with facets. And there, not far from a replica of the ship that had just brought it from India, was shown for the first time in England what the catalogue called “the great diamond of Runjeet Singh called the Mountain of Light or the Koh-in-noor.” This is what the millions came to see. ”

“ The muttering of the thunder grew louder, and at times a particularly loud crash told that a bolt had struck somewhere in th$ vicinity of the cave.
"But, bless my watch-charm!" exclaimed Mr, Damon, "I didn't know lightning made diamonds."
"It does not—always," went on the scientist. "But great heat and pressure are necessary to create the gems. In nature this was probably obtained by prehistoric volcanic fires, and by the terrific pressure of immense rocks. It is possible to make diamonds in the laboratory of the chemist, but they are so minute as to be practically valueless. ”

“ Diamond, however, had not been out so late before in all his life, and things looked so strange about him!—just as if he had got into Fairyland, of which he knew quite as much as anybody; for his mother had no money to buy books to set him wrong on the subject. ”

“ Very rarely a simple sifting with the fingers suffices to extract the jewel. In 1824 a region was discovered in the lower part of the table-land of Diamantina where the diamonds were scattered through the soil, accompanied only by a few bits of quartz. According to the popular expression, the crystals of the precious stone could be picked out of the roots of the grass when it was pulled up. A diamond of twenty-eight carats was found on the surface of the ground. ”

“ The men who deal in diamonds in the place of their origin no more wear them than do the men who dig them. Old buyers who have handled the precious stones all their lives are not only plainly dressed but have none of the tendency toward personal adornment so widespread among Brazilians. Two American diamond-men I met had huge blacksmith hands on which a ring would have looked absurd, and the only diamonds one sees in Diamantina are those offered for sale in “parcels” or show-windows, or those worn by an occasional tenderfoot. ”

“ The yellow tinge usually also disappears in artificial light. Of large Diamonds possessing a yellow color the Florentine and the Tiffany are the best known. The color of colored Diamonds is generally permanent, but that of some is said to fade on exposure to light. It can also be destroyed or changed by heat.
The luster of the Diamond is a peculiar one, and such as is possessed by few other minerals. In reference to its occurrence in the Diamond it is known as the adamantine luster. It combines the peculiarity of an oily luster with that of glass and that of a metal. ”