"Perhaps," said Patricia simply. Privately she believed that the Jewel was already beginning to do harm, since the old man behaved so rudely. As a rule he had always treated her with politeness, but now he revealed a side to his character which she had not seen. His eyes shone with greed, and he showed all the instincts of a miser. Looking at her and then glancing at his nephew, he continued to speak to her. "Hold this in your hand and see if you still feel the drawing-power you spoke of." In silence Patricia took the cold jade blossom, and it lay outstretched on her pink palm. She did not speak, but a bewildered expression gradually took possession of her face. The two men, who were watching her closely, both spoke together, moved by a single impulse. "What do you feel?" Patricia did not reply directly. "This is not the Mikado Jewel," she said in breathless tones. "I am sure it is not." The Squire became pale and Theodore looked amazed. "What makes you think that?" demanded the latter, who was first able to command his voice. "The drawing-power is reversed in this jewel," said Patricia. "Yes! oh, yes! I feel it quite plainly. Instead of the power radiating and keeping away evil, it is drawing danger towards itself." "Danger?" gasped the Squire, and his nephew, mindful of Granny Lee's warning, winced visibly. "Danger and darkness. Wave after wave of fear is coming towards me, while I hold the stone, and the darkness is swallowing me up. Oh!" Patricia shivered and deliberately dropped the jewel on the floor. "Take it away! I don't like it at all." Colpster picked up the gem. "Are you sure?" "I wouldn't have let the emerald fall otherwise," said Patricia, who was now trembling as if with cold. "When I last held it waves of light went out, and I felt absolutely safe. Now tides of darkness press in on me on every side, and there is a sense of danger everywhere." "What sort of danger?" asked Theodore nervously. "I can't say; I can't put my feelings into words. It looks like the Mikado Jewel, but it can't be, when it feels so different." "I am certain that it is the Mikado Jewel!" cried Colpster angrily. "Whether it is or not I can't say," retorted Patricia, backing towards the library door, "but it is dangerous. Get rid of it, or suffer." And she went quickly out of the room, leaving the two men staring at one another. CHAPTER XV PENTREDDLE'S STORY