Ch. 1: Diamond Mining

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	CHAPTER I FROM THE DEPTHS Millions of years ago, the scientists tell us, the sun in an extremely angry mood spat out many flaming particles. Most of them were disintegrated by the fury of their own fire. Some of them survived and became planets. Remorseful, the sun lavished upon these survivors its hfe-giving warmth, although one day—the scientists are not sure when or how—it will wipe them out, either by drawing them back to its bosom through the terrific scorching force of its own attraction or by withering them gradually with a freezing indifference. The earth was one of those planets. It was not called the earth then because it was before the time of man. Besides, there was nothing earthy about it: it was a ball of fire. No one knows how long it took Time, which is at once the ally and the enemy of all living things, to cool that ball. But after a while—a geologic "while" covering another few million years—it did cool and out of the molten mass came rocks that jutted from water and earth that formed under the vapors. Now Time took into partnership Nature to help it carry out the remainder of the program. Time is ruthless but patient. Nature is beautiful but calculatingly cruel. She had on her agenda something more than a lifeless, cold ball whirling in space. She visualized vast and contrary things. (1)

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