At about ten o'clock, a man came into the place alone, and went to the bar without, apparently, looking at us.
"Why there's Foxy!" cried Jumbo in great surprise.
He hailed his friend, and had him join us at our table. They overdid the casual meeting a little. I began to suspect that Jumbo had telephoned this man to come and join us, and I waited with no little curiosity to see what would come of it.
The newcomer was a man of Jumbo's age, but looking much younger because he was slender and well built. He was one of the plainest men I have ever seen but not in the sense of being repulsive, just plain. He was a blonde with ashy, colourless hair, and features of the "hatchet" type, that is to say sharp nose, narrow, retreating forehead, with the hair beginning some distance back. "Foxy" didn't seem to fit him very well, because he looked heavy-witted, stupid, but perhaps he can be sharp enough when he wants. He had a dull, verbose style of talk, and a conceited air like a third-rate actor.
Jumbo informed me with a scarcely concealed leer that Foxy was a "good fellow," in other words a crook like ourselves. Verily, words come to strange passes!
Presently we got to talking about diamonds again, and Jumbo in his character of the broker, exhibited the two he had just obtained from me. He did not, however, in my hearing say where he had got them. A look at me was a sufficient hint to say nothing about our compact. Presently I began to realise that Foxy in his heavier way was putting me through a sharper examination than Jumbo's. My opinion of hatchet-face's cleverness went up several points.
This man exhibited a considerable theoretical knowledge of diamonds as of one who might have read up on the subject. For instance he knew the characteristics, the weight and the ownership of the world-famous stones. He had, however, nothing of the eye-to-eye knowledge of the experienced jeweller.
I apparently passed his examination satisfactorily. He glanced at Jumbo in a meaning way, and the latter said:
"Look ahere, English, you ought to be able to make a good thing on the side by appraising diamonds."
My heart jumped at the possibilities this opened up. Was I about to land the job of diamond expert to the gang? "The profession's overcrowded," I said carelessly.