In certain moods, however, a man is obstinate about
small things, and I moved the taper nearer. As I did so
a point of light, a flashing sparkle that shone for a
second among the dirt and refuse on the floor, caught my
eye. It was gone in a moment, but I had seen it. I
stared, and moved the light again, and the spark flashed
out afresh, this time in a different place. Much
puzzled, I knelt, and, in a twinkling, found a tiny
crystal. Hard by it lay another--and another; each as
large as a fair-sized pea. I took up the three, and
rose to my feet again, the light in one hand, the
crystals in the palm of the other.
They were diamonds! Diamonds of price! I knew it in a
moment. As I moved the taper to and fro above them, and
watched the fire glow and tremble in their depths, I
knew that I held in my hand that which would buy the
crazy inn and all its contents a dozen times over! They
were diamonds! Gems so fine, and of so rare a water--or
I had never seen gems--that my hand trembled as I held
them, and my head grew hot and my heart beat furiously.
For a moment I thought that I dreamed, that my fancy
played me some trick; and I closed my eyes and did not
open them again for a minute.
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