"Hope guards the jewels!" he cried at last. "Louie, those words are written in Spanish inside the guitar. It surely can't be possible, little woman, that we have got the lost guitar here!" "It is the fact, Ronald," I said, quietly. "Just compare the writing in the album with the writing inside the guitar. And now, look at this page in the book. The card on which the music is written is merely kept in its place by means of four slits cut in the leaf; and the four corners of the card are slipped into the slits. Shall we draw it out and examine it?" The hint was, enough for my husband. In a second or two, the volume lay upon the table, and Ronald stood by the window with the card in his hand. On the back of it there were a few words in Spanish. "Remove the parchment label from the inside of the guitar, and read what is written on the reverse side of the parchment." It was plain that had Estella lived she would have understood the hidden meaning in the song, even without this direction, and would have searched the guitar to find out the last wishes of her sister. The air was one which they had constantly sung together in their early days, and it had, perhaps, certain associations for them which were lost to us. That poor Inez, always unlike other women, and partly crazed by sorrow, should have used her beloved guitar as the depository of her secret, would not have appeared so strange to Estella as it seemed to Ronald and myself. It was the work of a few moments to detach the label, which was only pasted at the corners; and, when this had been carefully done, the back of the label was found to be covered with fine and delicate writing in English. "DEAREST ESTELLA—" (Ronald read) "I have hidden the most precious things I possess in your house in George Street. The diamonds given me by my first husband, remain in the hiding place which he made for them. Remove my portrait from the wall; press the panel marked with a red spot, and it will slide back and disclose a cavity. All that you find there belongs to you and your son. Deceived and disappointed in my second marriage, I have reserved my best treasures for you and Ronald Hepburne. "(Signed) INEZ GREYSTOCK." For a little while we stood and looked at each other in silence, and the same thought was in the minds of both. We could see now why William Greystock had kept the album in his own possession instead of delivering it to Ronald. He had always believed in the existence of the diamonds, although Colonel Greystock had laughed the idea to scorn. It was doubtful whether he had ever discovered the writing on the back of the card, but he might have fancied that the book contained some clue to the hiding place of the gems. And it was evident to us now that he was scheming to get Ronald entirely into his power, that he might in the end obtain possession of the old house in George Street.