"Have you found out anything, sir?" "You mean about the scarf-pin?" said Maxwell, evasively. "Yes, sir." "Mr. Maxwell has found out the owner of it," interposed Mrs. Belswin, coldly. "I am the owner," said Ferrari, complacently. "You?" cried Mrs. Belk, with a sudden flush on her face; "you, sir?" "Even I, signora!" Mrs. Belk felt quite taken back. She was quite sure that the owner of the scarf-pin had killed Sir Rupert, yet, here he was, calmly acknowledging that it belonged to him, which he certainly would not do if he were guilty. The little woman looked from Ferrari to Maxwell, from Maxwell to Mrs. Belswin; and saw in their eyes the same expression---a look of pity. A sudden thrill of fear shot through her heart, and she turned towards Maxwell with a cry of alarm. "Sir! Sir!" she stammered, nervously, "what does this mean?--why do you come here?" "We want to see your son, Mrs. Belk." "My son, sir? Is anything wrong? Oh, tell me, sir, Samson has been doing nothing wrong?" None of the three persons present answered her, so filled were their hearts with pity for her coming agony. "Is it anything to do with the diamond, sir?" "Yes." "Oh!" cried Mrs. Belk, with an expression of relief on her face, "perhaps you think my son stole it?" "Your son," said Mrs. Belswin, quickly. "Did he have that scarf-pin in his possession?" Mrs. Belk faced round fiercely. "No ma'am; he knows nothing about it." "Ebbene," murmured the Italian; "we shall see." "What do you say, sir?" "I say," replied Ferrari, coolly, "that the scarf-pin was mine, and I gave it to--to--your son." "To my son," shrieked Mrs. Belk, her pale face growing yet paler; "but I found the diamond on the terrace." "Per Bacco! Who loses finds." Mrs. Belk kept silent for a moment, overwhelmed by the thought of the perilous position in which she had placed her son, for in a single instant she saw all; then, staggering against the wall, she gave a cry which was scarcely human in its agony. Scarcely had it died away, when hurried footsteps were heard, and the door was dashed open to admit Samson Belk, with a look of astonishment on his face. "Mother! what is the matter? Mrs. Belswin?" "Yes!" said Mrs. Belswin, advancing a step, "we have come----" The mother saw the movement, and with a shriek of jealous rage, darted between them, and flung herself into her son's arms. "Yes, my son, yes!" she cried, convulsively; "they have come to kill you! to hang you!" "Mother!" "They say you killed the master." "It's a lie!" Samson Belk placed his mother in a chair, where she sat in a half-fainting condition, and turned fiercely towards the two men, like a lion at bay. "Now then," he said--his habitually slow voice, sharp and quick--"what's all this?" Maxwell held out his hand, and in the palm of it lay the diamond scarf-pin. "Do you know this?" he demanded, slowly. Belk gave a mighty laugh of scorn. "Know it? Yes, I know it. 'Tis the diamond I got from yonder chap."