Centaine met them on the verandah of the administration building and led them into her office. Well, did you find it interesting? she asked, and smiled at Shasa's hearty response.
It was fascinating, Mater, and we got one real beauty.
Thirty-six carats, it's a jolly great monster of a diamond! He set the box on her desk and when Twenty-man-Jones unlocked it he showed her the diamond as proudly as if he had mined it with his own hands.
It's big, Centaine agreed, but the colour isn't particularly good. There, hold it to the light. See, it's as brown as whisky and soda, and even with the naked eye you can see the inclusions and flaws, those little black specks inside the stone and that tear through the middle. Shasa looked crestfallen that his stone was so denigrated and she laughed and turned to Twenty-man-Jones. Let's show him some really good diamonds. Will you open the vault please, Dr Twenty-man-Jones? Twenty-man-jones pulled out the bunch of keys from the fob pocket of his waistcoat and led Shasa down the passage to the steel grille door at the end. He opened it with his key and relocked it behind them before they went down the stairs to the underground vault. Even from Shasa he screened the lock with his body as he tumbled the combination and then used a second key before the thick green Chubb steel door swung ponderously aside and they went into the strongroom.
The industrial-grade stones are kept in these canisters., He touched them as he passed. But we keep the high-grade stuff separately. He unlocked the smaller steel door set in the rear wall of the vault and selected five numbered brown paper packages from the crowded shelf.
These are our best stones. He handed them to Shasa as a mark of his trust, and then they went back again, opening and re-locking each door as they passed through.
Centaine was waiting for them in her office, and when Shasa placed the packages in front of her she opened the first and gently spread the contents on her blotter.
Golly gee! Shasa goggled at the array of large stones glittering with a soapy sheen. They are gi-normous! Let's ask Dr Twenty-man-jones to give us a dissertation, Centaine suggested, and hiding his gratification behind a sombre countenance, he picked up one of the gem stones.
Well, Master Shasa, here is a diamond in its natural crystalline formation, the octahedron of eight faces, count them. Here is another in a more complicated crystalline form, the dodecahedron of twelve faces, while these others are massive and uncrystallized. See how rounded and amorphous they are. Diamonds come in many guises. He laid each in Shasa's open palm, and not even his prim monotonous recital could dull the fascination of this shining treasure. The diamond has a perfect cleavage, or as we call it "grain", and can be split in all four directions, parallel to the octahedral crystal planes. That's how the cutters cleave a stone before polishing, Centaine cut in. 'During your next holidays I will take you to Amsterdam so you can see it done. This rather greasy sheen will disappear when the stones are cut and polished. TWentyman-jones took over again, resenting her intrusion. Then all their fire will be revealed as their very high refractive power captures the light within and dispersive powers separate it into the spectral colours. How much does this one weigh? 'Forty-eight carats. Centaine consulted the recovery book.
But remember it may lose more than half its weight when it is cut and polished. Then how much will it be worth? Centaine glanced at Twenty-man-Jones.
A great deal of money, Master Shasa. Like the true lover of any beautiful object, gem or painting, horse or statue, he disliked placing a monetary value upon it, so he hedged and returned to his lecture. 'Now I want you- to compare the colours of these stones,- Darkness fell outside the windows, but Centaine switched on the lights and they huddled over the small pile of stones for another hour, meeting question with answer and talking quietly and intently until at last Twenty-man-Jones swept the stones back into their packages and stood up.
"Thou hast been in Eden, the Garden of God," he quoted unexpectedly, "'every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz and diamond.... Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." He stopped and looked selfconscious. Forgive me. I don't know what got into me. Ezekiel? Centaine asked, smiling fondly at him.
Chapter 28, verses thirteen and fourteen. He nodded, trying not to show how impressed he was by her knowledge.
I'll put these away now. Dr Twenty-man-Jones, Shasa stopped him. You didn't answer my question. How much are these stones worth? Are you referring to the entire package? He looked uncomfortable. Including the industrials and boart still in the strong room? Yes, sir, how much, sir? Well, if De Beers accepts them at the same prices as our last package they will fetch considerably in excess of a million pounds sterling, he replied sadly.
A million pounds, Shasa repeated, but Centaine saw in his expression that such a figure was incomprehensible to him, like the astronomical distances between stars that must be expressed in light years. He will learn, she thought, I will teach him.
Remember, Shasa, that is not all profit. From that sum we will have to pay all the expenses of the mine over the past months before we can figure a profit. And even from that we have to give the tax collectors their pound of bleeding flesh. She stood up behind the desk and then held out her hand to prevent Twenty-man-Jones leaving the room as an idea struck her.
As you know Shasa and I are going in to Windhoek this coming Friday. Shasa has to return to school at the end of next week. I will take the diamonds into the bank with me in the Daimler, Mrs Courtney! Twenty-man-jones was horrified. I couldn't allow that. A million pounds worth, good Lord alive. It would be criminally irresponsible of me to agree. He broke off as be saw her expression alter; her mouth settled into that familiar stubborn shape and the lights of battle glinted in her eyes. He knew her so well, like his own daughter, and loved her as much, he realized that he had made the grievous error of challenging and forbidding her.
He knew what her reaction must be and he sought desperately to head her off.
I was thinking only of you, Mrs Courtney. A million pounds of diamonds would attract every scavenger and predator, every robber and foot-pad for a thousand miles around. It was not my intention to bruit it abroad. I will not broadcast it a thousand miles around, she said coldly.
The insurance, inspiration came to him at last, the insurance will not cover losses if the package is not sent in by armed convoy. Can you truly afford to take that chance a loss of a million pounds of revenue against a few days saved? He had hit upon the one argument that might stop her.
He saw her thinking about it carefully, a chance of losing a million pounds against a minimal loss of face, and he sighed silently with relief when she shrugged.
Oh, very well then, Dr Twenty-man-jones, have it your own way.
Lothar had carved the road to H'ani Mine through the desert
with his own hands and sprinkled every mile of it with the sweat of his brow. But that had been twelve years before, and now his memory of it had grown hazy. Still he remembered half a dozen points along the road which might serve his purpose.
From the stage camp where he had intercepted Gerhard Fourie's convoy they followed the rutted tracks south and west in the direction of Windhoek, travelling at night to save them from discovery by unexpected traffic on the road.
On the second morning, just as the sun was rising, Lothar reached one of the points he remembered and found it ideal.