"Oh, yes. There were others sitting near us who must have overheard it. I went with him, and gave him my opinion as I have given it to you. Of course, there may not be a jewel at the heart of every bit of rock; no doubt there are a great many quite useless bits in Hardiman's collection." "This is very interesting," said Quarles. "Would you look at the pieces in that bag and tell us if any of them are useless." Majendie spent some minutes in examining them, and then gave it as his opinion that they all contained a jewel. "Now that knife--" "I thought no knife had been found," said Majendie. "That has just been found on the ship," said Quarles. "It is an absurd question, but as a matter of form I must ask it. Have you ever seen that knife before?" Majendie took it up and looked at it. "Hardiman was apparently stabbed with a rusty knife," Quarles remarked. "Stabbed! You could not stab any one with this, and certainly I have never seen it before." I did not understand why Quarles was passing this off as the real weapon. He took it up, grasped it firmly, and stabbed the air with it. "I don't know, it might--" He shook his head and put the knife on the table again. Majendie took it up and in his turn stabbed the air with it. "Utterly impossible," he said. "This could not have been the knife used; besides, there would surely be stains on it." "I am inclined to think you are right," said Quarles. "You must forgive the captain for detaining you, Mr. Majendie, and of course you can land this afternoon. The captain wishes us to lunch on board; perhaps you will join us?" "With pleasure. So long as I am in London to-night no harm is done." When he had gone Quarles turned to the captain. "Pardon my impudence, but we must not lose sight of Majendie. You must follow him this afternoon, Wigan, and locate him in London. You must have him watched until we get to the bottom of this affair. Now let us see Bennett." The man-servant proved to be a bundle of nerves, and it was hardly to be wondered at if the story he told was true. A question or two set him talking without any reticence apparently.