But against high chymic tests no sham can stand; and first it is too light in weight, and second, when rubbed on this Basanus or Black-stone, traces no line of white, as any diamond must.

But, third and last, I have tried it with the hermeneutic proof, and dipped it in this most costly lembic; and the liquor remains pure green and clear, not turbid orange, a diamond leaves it.' As he spoke the room spun round, and I felt the sickness and heart-sinking that comes with the sudden destruction of long-cherished hope.

So it was all a sham, a bit of glass, for which we had risked our lives.

Blackbeard had only mocked us even in his death, and from rich men we were become the poorest outcasts.

And all the other bright fancies that had been built on this worthless thing fell down at once, like a house of cards.