ive me that paste imitation," Drake said. "Perhaps somehow...?"
Silvaris nodded helplessly.
"It's of no use," he groaned. "We tried, but it has no power."
Puffy, a knife in his hand once more, was working slowly over the gem with its keen blade. His face was solemn and deep with interest. In spite of themselves, the two men stood close to him watching the thin, case-like stuff that he peeled away from the surface.
"This ain't paste," he said excitedly. "It's a kind of silicate. Lardner must have dipped the gem into it and let the stuff harden as a protective cover."
Drake took the gem eagerly.
"Then he realized that whatever the power was that this stone has, it couldn't work unless the diamond itself was clean and unprotected."
The late afternoon sun was fading slowly beyond the far end of the frozen lake. They turned and went into the cave of the Fox People. Perhaps the gem would work. But if it didn't, Lardner had died with the secret on his lips.
"You'll never get her," he had said, "even with the diamond."