Mr.
Cohen seemed to put off the moment of actual weighing on the scales to
let all of us enjoy ourselves guessing. Mr. Van der Merwe still didn't
smile. He looked proud and dignified, standing alone there, like the
father of a new baby.
Finally
Mr. Cohen pushed his goggles far back on his head, picked up his loupe,
and studied the stone. We were all quiet while he did this, and a lot
of the diggers outside looked in the window. At last he spoke. "Couple
of specks there. Pity."
"Little specks," said Mr. Van der Merwe.
"Off-color too," said Mr. Cohen. "Pity. If only it weren't quite so yellow-----"
Mr. Van der Merwe laughed at last, sternly and scornfully. "The color's good" he said.
"Frankly
I'm not sure," said Mr. Cohen. "I can't be sure about the color until I
get back to the lab in Kimberley. It's a nice stone anyway," he
conceded. He put it into the scales and we all waited tensely. "Eight.
Eight and a half—no, it runs more than that. Eight and five eighths.
Well now, let's see." He picked up his pencil and got to work on his
pad. At last he said, "Five hundred twenty pounds, even. That is, if
you sell it now. That will leave you, without the royalty, four hundred
and sixty-eight."
All
our eyes turned toward the digger. He shook his head and said calmly,
"That's the best stone I've ever found in all my life's digging."
"Listen,
Van der Merwe. It's a good big stone, but it's just a little off-color.
You won't get a better price anywhere, I'll tell you that," said Mr.
Cohen.
Again Mr. Van der Merwe shook his head. Mr. Cohen picked up the diamond and the loupe and studied it some more, saying
