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More about Diamonds 173
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ting establishment. Yet I was wrong in my estimate of him.
It
was the Dutch firm of Ascher that was entrusted with the extremely
delicate and responsible job of dividing the prodigiously large
Cullinan diamond into several pieces, and for the subsequent shaping
and polishing of the now historical stones which were presented to King
Edward VII by the Union of South Africa. When at last the wonderful
and priceless gems were ready for presentation to Their Britannic
Majesties, and the date had been set for the ceremony, Mynheer Ascher
crossed over from Holland in order to meet the representatives of the
South African Government at Buckingham Palace and hand over the result
of many months' labour, and to be himself presented to the King and
Queen.
Extraordinary
precautions had been taken for the safe transit of the gems, for not
only had the Dutch police sent along several of their astutest secret
service men, but also two of Scotland Yard's keenest detectives had
been despatched to prevent any unfortunate incident from occurring
during the trip from the Netherlands.
To
make assurance doubly sure, one of Ascher's own trusty men had one
handle of the bag containing the caskets strapped and padlocked to his
wrist, while the other handle was secured in the same manner to the
wrist of a Scotland Yard officer. Ascher himself held the key to the
two padlocks and to the bag itself. With an escort of this kind, there
was no question but that short of some accident at sea during the
crossing the stones would arrive safely at their destination.
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