“All right, George, I will do it. Mind, I don't do it willingly, but I do it for your sake.” “That is right,” Colonel Thorndyke said, holding out his thin bronzed hand to his brother; “that is off my mind. Now, there is only one other thing--those confounded jewels. But I won't talk about them now.” It was not indeed till three or four days later that the Colonel again spoke to his brother on any than ordinary matters. He had indeed been very weak and ailing. After breakfast, when, as usual, he was a little stronger and brighter than later in the day, he said to his brother suddenly:-- “I suppose there are no hiding places in this room?” “Hiding places! What do you mean, George?” “Places where a fellow could hide up and hear what we are talking about.” “No, I don't think so,” the Squire replied, looking round vaguely. “Such an idea never occurred to me. Why do you ask?” “Because, John, if there is such a thing as a hiding place, someone will be sure to be hiding there. Where does that door lead to?” “It doesn't lead anywhere; it used to lead into the next room, but it was closed up before my time, and turned into a cupboard, and this door is permanently closed.” “Do you mind stepping round into the next room and seeing if anyone is in the cupboard?” Thinking that his brother was a little light headed, John Thorndyke went into the next room, and returned, saying gravely that no one was there. “Will you look behind the curtains, John, and under this sofa, and everywhere else where even a cat could be hidden? That seems all right,” the Colonel went on, as his brother continued the search. “You know there is a saying that walls have ears, and I am not sure that it is not so. I have been haunted with the feeling that everything I did was watched, and that everything I said was listened to for years; and I can tell you it is a devilishly unpleasant thought. Draw your chair quite close to me. It is about my jewels, John. I always had a fancy for jewels--not to wear them, but to own them. In my time I have had good opportunities in that way, both in the Madras Presidency and in the Carnatic. In the first place, I have never cared for taking presents in money, but I have never refused jewels; and what with Rajahs and Nabobs and Ministers that one had helped or done a good turn to somehow, a good deal came to me that way.