"Hand it back!" he interrupted (his other remarks were outrageous, but satisfactory to hear); but I waved him off. I couldn't give it up. It fascinated me. I toyed with it, I caressed it. I made it display its different tones of color. I must see the two stones together. I must see it outshine its paltry rival. It was a whimsical frenzy that seized me--I can call it by no other name. "Would you like to see the original? Curiously enough, I have it here. The bishop has left it in my charge." The wolfish light flamed up in Carwitchet's eyes as I drew forth the case. He laid the Valdez down on a sheet of paper, and I placed the other, still in its case, beside it. In that moment they looked identical, except for the little loop of sham stones, replaced by a plain gold band in the bishop's jewel. Carwitchet leaned across the table eagerly, the table gave a lurch, the lamp tottered, crashed over, and we were left in semidarkness. "Don't stir!" Carwitchet shouted. "The paraffin is all over the place!" He seized my sofa blanket, and flung it over the table while I stood helpless. "There, that's safe now. Have you candles on the chimney-piece? I've got matches." He looked very white and excited as he lit up. "Might have been an awkward job with all that burning paraffin, running about," he said quite pleasantly. "I hope no real harm is done." I was lifting the rug with shaking hands. The two stones lay as I had placed them. No! I nearly dropped it back again. It was the stone in the case that had the loop with the three sham sapphires! Carwitchet picked the other up hastily. "So you say this is rubbish?" he asked, his eyes sparkling wickedly, and an attempt at mortification in his tone. "Utter rubbish!" I pronounced, with truth and decision, snapping up the case and pocketing it. "Lady Carwitchet must have known it." "Ah, well, it's disappointing, isn't it? Good-by, we shall not meet again." I shook hands with him most cordially. "Good-by, Lord Carwitchet. _So_ glad to have met you and your mother. It has been a source of the _greatest_ pleasure, I assure you." I have never seen the Carwitchets since. The bishop drove over next day in rather better spirits. Miss Panton had refused the chaplain. "It doesn't matter, my lord," I said to him heartily. "We've all been under some strange misconception. The stone in your possession is the veritable one. I could swear to that anywhere. The sapphire Lady Carwitchet wears is only an excellent imitation, and--I have seen it with my own eyes--is the one bearing Bogaerts's mark, the Greek Beta." THE LOCK AND KEY LIBRARY CLASSIC MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE STORIES OF ALL NATIONS TEN VOLUMES NORTH EUROPE MEDITERRANEAN GERMAN CLASSIC FRENCH MODERN FRENCH FRENCH NOVELS OLD TIME ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISH AMERICAN REAL LIFE