'Well,' he said, without betraying the surprise he [{122}] felt, 'this is what I call a very pleasant accident, Mr. Logotheti.'
The Greek rose and shook hands, and the American did not fail to observe on the counter a small piece of tissue paper on which lay an uncut stone, much larger than the one he had in his pocket.
'If you are in any hurry,' said Logotheti politely, 'I don't mind waiting in the least. Mr. Pinney and I are in the midst of a discussion that may never end, and I believe neither of us has anything in the world to do.'
Mr. Pinney smiled benignly and put in a word in the mercantile plural, which differs from that of royalty in being used every day.
'The truth is, we are not very busy just at this time of the year,' he said.
'That's very kind of you, Mr. Logotheti,' said Van Torp, answering the latter, 'but I'm not really in a hurry, thank you.'
The stress he laid on the word 'really' might have led one to the conclusion that he was pretending to be, but was not. He sat down deliberately at a little distance, took off his hat, and looked at the gem on the counter.
'I don't know anything about such things, of course,' he said in a tone of reflexion, 'but I should think that was quite a nice ruby.'
Again Mr. Pinney smiled benignly, for Mr. Van Torp had dealt with him for years.
'It's a very fine stone indeed, sir,' he said, and then [{123}] turned to Logotheti again. 'I think we can undertake to cut it for you in London,' he said. 'I will weigh it and give you a careful estimate.'