Page:Knaves of Diamonds.pdf/109

 to say that it was continued in a language which is not translatable through the cold and unsympathetic medium of print.

The facts which had so far formed the basis of the conversation between Miss Lucy Carnegie, the daughter of a fairly well-to-do diamond broker, and Mr. Tom Burrows, a not particularly prosperous diamond miner, may be briefly summarised as follows:

In the days of the open mine-working at the De Beers and Kimberley mines, there existed a law which was the cause of much heart-burning and no little injustice among miners. A digger was compelled, under penalty of progressive fines, which either amounted to, or actually culminated in, confiscation of his claim, to keep pace in removing his "blue" with his next-door neighbour to such an extent as to preclude his ground falling into his neighbour's claim. Such a regulation was really a necessity, but, at the