"Tress, I don't think we ought to let it go for less than—than five thousand pounds."
"Seriously, Pugh, I doubt whether, when the whole affair is ended, we shall get five thousand pence for it, or, for the matter of that, five thousand farthings."
"But why not? Why not? It's a magnificent stone—magnificent! I'll stake my life on it."
I tapped my breast with the tips of my fingers.
"There's a warning voice within my breast that ought to be in yours, Pugh! Something tells me, perhaps it is the unusually strong vein of common sense which I possess, that the contents of your ninepenny puzzle will be found to be a magnificent do—an ingenious practical joke, my friend."
"I don't believe it."
But I think he did; at any rate, I had unsettled the foundations of his faith.
We entered the Hatton Garden office side by side; in his anxiety not to let me get before him, Pugh actually clung to my arm. The office was divided into two parts by a counter which ran from wall to wall. I advanced to a man who stood on the other side of this counter.
"I want to sell you a diamond."
"We want to sell you a diamond," interpolated Pugh.