The rough foundation walls of the house, the massive stone wall built
across the cellar to mask the secret chamber, the elaborate electric
furnace, the huge hydraulic press, the workbench and tools, the powerful
arc light pendent from the ceiling--half an eye would have convinced
Nick that he occupied the workroom of that master craftsman whose
chemical knowledge and inventive genius had given birth to a most
marvelous production, long, earnestly, yet vainly, sought by others--
The production of an artificial diamond!
Not until Nick heard the stone door forcibly closed, and its iron bolts
shot violently into their sockets, did he pay serious attention to
Cervera, the venomous Spanish vixen left to guard him.
Then, as she swung round toward him, he took a sharper look at her
darkly magnificent face, and was thrilled despite him by the
extraordinary changes it had undergone.
It had lost its beauty. Its olive flush had given place to a chalky
whiteness. The radiance of her eyes had become a merciless glitter, like
the glint cast from the eyes of a serpent. The reflection of a consuming
passion for vengeance had transfigured her countenance, till it had
become like the face of a fiend.
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