"Why not send him a small box-full of the stones and let him experiment on them with the model he has in father's office?" asked Jim, eagerly.
"If Polly will give us some—I will send them on with a letter of explanation," returned Kenneth.
"Of course! Take all you want. Every one is welcome to them," said Polly, breaking off a cluster of fresh stones from the wall.
"What are you talking about, Jim? I heard Bob say something about a new patented machine that would make millions out of these Cliffs, but what do you mean?" asked Eleanor.
"I guess we were both speaking of the same idea," replied Jim. "You see, my father is financing the wonderful patent Ken's father invented. Dr. Evans is a great inventor, and every once in a while he has a big idea. That was how he planned the vacuum sweepers, and the self-stop on the victrolas. He has lots of unusual patents granted him, and now he has this idea patented.
"He can cut a stone so that it surpasses any hand-cut jewel for facets and beauty, by merely dropping the material into the feeder on the machine and letting it cut out the jewel in a few moments. The size of stone wanted can be regulated by a screw. And the small bits of refuse left after making large jewels, can be cut into sparkling chips.
"My father and Uncle George incorporated the company that is financing this cutting machine. Now they can try out this lava and see if it is hard enough to cut brilliantly."
"Wouldn't it be lovely to have Ken's father use these lava jewels in his company, and let Nolla and me have the royalty to send us to school?" ventured Polly, wistfully, looking at the distant peak where her gold mine seemed lost for the present.
Jim and his friend were selecting the finest specimen of the lava as Polly spoke, so they made no reply. Her eyes traveled along the Top Notch Trail and finally came back to the Cliffs at home. She watched the boys gather the stones and suddenly remembered Kenneth's likeness to Montresor.
"Oh, Kenneth! I 'most forgot to ask you something!" cried she.