Long slabs of the
beautiful blue lapis lazuli, magnificent bloodstones, specimens of pink
and red and white coral, long strings of lustrous pearls, all these were
tossed out by their owner as a careless schoolboy might pour marbles
from his bag.
"This isn't bad," he said, holding up a great glowing yellow mass as
large as his own head. "It is really a very fine piece of amber. It was
forwarded to me by my agent at the Baltic. Twenty-eight pounds, it
weighs. I never heard of so fine a one. I have no very large
brilliants--there were no very large ones in the market--but my average
is good. Pretty toys, are they not?" He picked up a double handful of
emeralds from a drawer, and then let them trickle slowly back into
the heap.
"Good heavens!" cried Robert, as he gazed from case to case. "It is an
immense fortune in itself. Surely a hundred thousand pounds would
hardly buy so splendid a collection."
"I don't think that you would do for a valuer of precious stones," said
Raffles Haw, laughing. "Why, the contents of that one little drawer of
brilliants could not be bought for the sum which you name. I have a
memo. here of what I have expended up to date on my collection, though I
have agents at work who will probably make very considerable additions
to it within the next few weeks.
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