"Destroyed? I should say she would; the largest battleship would be blown to atoms."
The spook glanced at an old-fashioned Dutch clock in the corner of the laboratory.
"Fine clock that; glad I didn't break it with our little racket just now. I see I have nearly an hour to spare. Is there any experiment you would like to try?"
I said anything would interest me, but that I didn't care for any more explosives.
"I suppose you know how to make diamonds, don't you?"
I answered that for years men had tried to manufacture diamonds, but practically without success; that as far as I was aware they had only succeeded in making them so small as to be practically of no use commercially, and the expense of the manufacture was far in excess of their value.
"That's all right," answered the spook; "but really it is a very simple matter. Here; I will make a diamond for you." He walked across the room to the fireplace, and taking from the grate a lump of coal about the size of a billiard ball, he laid it upon the table.
"This," he said, "is nearly pure carbon, and as you are well aware it is practically what a diamond is. Now, I will illustrate to you how you may make a diamond from
this piece of coal, which will be as good as any diamond ever found in the mines. We will manufacture it instead of letting nature do it.