When she had left the shop the younger Mr. Pearce turned to his brother, took the little brooch from the drawer into which he had carelessly thrown it, and gave it to the elder Mr. Pearce to examine. "There's a find here," he said; "only, somehow, I feel a bit uncomfortable. How did one of the young ladies from Aylmer House come by a treasure of this sort?" The other man examined the brooch carefully. "It's worth a good bit," he said. "What did you give her for it?" "Five pounds; but somehow I think that I ought not to have taken it for that sum." "It is worth at least two hundred," said the elder Mr. Pearce. "Where did you say she lived?" "She is one of the young ladies at Aylmer House--Miss Howland." "What! from Mrs. Ward's school?" "Yes." "You had better give me that brooch, Alfred," said his brother. "We'll have to consider what is to be done. We can't rob the young lady of it. We had best consult Mrs. Ward." "Oh, as to that," said the younger Pearce, "that sounds almost as shabby as giving the schoolgirl too little money." "Well, lock it up for the present," said the elder Pearce; "but I am an honest tradesman, and I can't see even a schoolgirl robbed." "She was up to some little lark," said the younger man, "and evidently did not know the value of the brooch. Why, I think she'd have taken a pound for it. But what she did know the value of was her precious time; she was very much annoyed at being kept waiting and at being asked for her address. It is plain she got out without leave; and although the brooch may belong to her--I am sure I hope it does--she has broken a rule, you mark my words. Those schoolgirls are always up to larks. Well, I'd never have thought it of one of Mrs. Ward's girls." "It is a pity you didn't consult me, Alfred," said his brother. "The best thing to do now is to put the brooch carefully away. We'll consider what is best to be done with it; but as to giving the young lady only five pounds for what we can sell any day at Christie's for a couple of hundred, that is not to be thought of." CHAPTER XIX. THE LETTER. Maggie got out and came back again without any apparent adventure. She had five pounds in her pocket, and thought herself rich beyond the dreams of avarice. What a delightful fairy-gift had been handed down to her by her dear dead father! She did not miss the brooch in the least, but she valued the small sum she had obtained for it exceedingly. But while Maggie thought herself so secure, and while the pleasant jingle of the sovereigns as she touched them with her little hand comforted her inexpressibly, things quite against Maggie Howland's supposed interests were transpiring in another part of the school.