Against one wall of Freer's office was a large letter file with drawers
that pulled out, and a shutter to pull down over the whole at night,
and lock. It was built entirely of steel as the modern custom is.
Freer pulled out one of the drawers but instead of letters inside, my
amazed eyes beheld a heap of gleaming diamond jewelry. There were
necklaces, dog-collars, lavallieres, pins, bracelets, rings. I
wondered if the thirty-odd remaining drawers were filled with like
treasures, and made a breathless mental computation of their
value--millions! It was a modern burlesque of the scene in Aladdin's
cave!
Freer, referring to the drawer he held open said: "These are
consignments of diamonds lately received, which I have not had the time
to inventory. You see each article is tagged with a number. You are
to take them in numerical order, enter a careful description and
valuation in a journal, then demount the stones, weigh them, grade them
and put them in stock."
He opened several other drawers which contained princely treasures of
unset diamonds lying on white cotton. They were carefully graded
according to size, colour, quality. Here apparently is the loot of
years past. I could not begin to give any estimate of its value. I
have not seen the pearls yet.
"The other part of your work," Freer went on, "will be to fill the
orders for diamonds that are received." He showed me several order
slips, evidently from the phraseology, made out by experienced
jewellers, but bearing no shipping directions.
"Am I to send these orders out?" I asked with a simple air.
He shook his head. "Enter the orders in the order book, fill them from
stock, and turn them over to me."
"Mind you do not carry your work to the window," put in Lorina sharply.