He went home that night, more harassed and ill than I have ever seen him.  Next day was as bad.  The slump continued, with varying episodes.  Now, a rumour would surge up that Sir Adolphus had declared the whole affair a sham, and prices would steady a little; now, another would break out that the diamonds were actually being put upon the market in Berlin by the cart-load, and timid old ladies would wire down to their brokers to realise off-hand at whatever hazard.  It was an awful day.  I shall never forget it.

The morning after, as if by miracle, things righted themselves of a sudden.  While we were wondering what it meant, Charles received a telegram from Sir Adolphus Cordery:—­

“The man is a fraud.  Not Schleiermacher at all.  Just had a wire from Jena saying the Professor knows nothing about him.  Sorry unintentionally to have caused you trouble.  Come round and see me.”

“Sorry unintentionally to have caused you trouble.”  Charles was beside himself with anger.  Sir Adolphus had upset the share-market for forty-eight mortal hours, half-ruined a round dozen of wealthy operators, convulsed the City, upheaved the House, and now—­he apologised for it as one might apologise for being late ten minutes for dinner!  Charles jumped into a hansom and rushed round to see him.  How had he dared to introduce the impostor to solid men as Professor Schleiermacher?  Sir Adolphus shrugged his shoulders.  The fellow had come and introduced himself as the great Jena chemist; he had long white hair, and a stoop in the shoulders.  What reason had he for doubting his word? (I reflected to myself that on much the same grounds Charles in turn had accepted the Honourable David Granton and Graf von Lebenstein.) Besides, what object could the creature have for this extraordinary deception?  Charles knew only too well.  It was clear it was done to disturb the diamond market, and we realised, too late, that the man who had done it was—­Colonel Clay, in “another of his manifold allotropic embodiments!” Charles had had his wish, and had met his enemy once more in London!

We could see the whole plot.  Colonel Clay was polymorphic, like the element carbon!  Doubtless, with his extraordinary sleight of hand, he had substituted real diamonds for the shapeless mass that came out of the apparatus, in the interval between handing the pebbles round for inspection, and distributing them piecemeal to the men of science and representatives of the diamond interest.  We all watched him closely, of course, when he opened the crucibles; but when once we had satisfied ourselves that something came out, our doubts were set at rest, and we forgot to watch whether he distributed those somethings or not to the recipients.  Conjurers always depend upon such momentary distractions or lapses of attention.  As usual, too, the Professor had disappeared into space the moment his trick was once well performed.  He vanished like smoke, as the Count and Seer had vanished before, and was never again heard of.