The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Section 10 Summary

  • It is three in the morning as the three fugitives watch the fight from their spot in the woods. Jasmine falls off to sleep against a tree. After about an hour of bombing, the planes circle closer to the ground and the fighting starts to slow. Kismine, too, falls asleep.
  • John remains awake and, after some time has passed, begins to sense that others are present nearby. He peers through the trees and spots Braddock Washington standing in a clearing. The sun is just starting to rise, and so his figure is silhouetted against the brightening dawn.
  • Washington lifts his hand above his head and calls out, "You there!" several times.
  • At first, John doesn't know what's going on. Is Braddock praying? he wonders. He sees two slaves standing with Washington and raising a huge object to the sky.
  • Finally, he figures out what's up. The slaves are holding a giant diamond up to the sky, and Washington is trying to bribe God.
  • Braddock proceeds to detail, to God, exactly what he will provide him, should God smite all the airplanes and save his estate. The list includes a giant diamond chapel with an altar of radium, the greatest monument ever built to God.
  • When Washington finishes, there is a dull rumble of thunder in the distance. That's it. God has refused the bribe.
  • The airplanes land to complete their attack as morning comes. John wakes the two girls and they make their way off the mountain as quickly as they can.
  • They stop at some point to look back. John sees Mr. Washington, the two men with the giant diamond, Mrs. Washington, and Percy making their way slowly down the peak of the mountain. They open a trap door in the side of the diamond mountain and go inside.
  • John speculates, aloud, that this must be a secret underground escape route. No, sobs Kismine, when she realizes what is going on – the mountain is wired to blow.
  • Just as she says this, the mountain blows up. All the attacking aviators who had started their way up the diamond mountain are blown up along with everything else.