Part 12 (1/2)

Yet I could not say anything, being too much disappointed to find the diamond was a sham, and bitterly cast down at the loss of all our hopes It was all very well to think there was a curse upon the stone so long as we had it, and to feign that ere ready to part with it; but noas gone I knew that at heart I never wished to part with it at all, and would have risked any curse to have it back again There was supper waiting for us e got back, but I had no stomach for victuals and sat moodily while Elzevir ate, and he not much But when I sat and brooded over what had happened, a new thought came to my mind and I jumped up and cried, 'Elzevir, we are fools! The stone is no sham; 'tis a real diamond!'

He put down his knife and fork, and looked atfor me to say more, and yet did not show so much surprise as I expected Then I reminded hiht when first he saw the stone, which showed he thought it was real then, and how afterwards, though he schooled his voice to bring out long words to deceive us, he was ready enough to spring to his feet and shriek out loud when Elzevir threw the stone into the garden I spoke fast, and in talking to him convinced myself, so when I stopped for want of breath I was quite sure that the stone was indeed a diamond, and that Aldobrand had duped us

Still Elzevir showed little eagerness, and only said-

”Tis like enough that what you say is true, but ould you have us do? The stone is flung away'

'Yes,' I answered; 'but I sahere it fell, and know the very place; let us go back now at once and get it'

'Do you not think that Aldobrand saw the place too?' asked Elzevir; and then I re the stone fall, I caught the eyes of the oldthe same way; and how he spoke more quietly after that, and not with the bitter cry he used when Elzevir tossed the jewel out of the

'I do not know,' I said doubtfully; 'let us go back and see It fell just by the ste hio and get it?'

Still he did not answer for ahis words 'I cannot tell I think that all you say is true, and that this stone is real Nay, I was half of that mind when I threw it away, and yet I would not say we are not best without it 'Twas you who first spoke of a curse upon the jewel, and I laughed at that as being a childish tale But now I cannot tell; for ever since we first scented this treasure luck has run against us, John; yes, run against us very strong; and here we are, flying from home, called outlaws, and with blood upon our hands Not that blood frightens ht, and never felt a death-blow given so weigh on my soul; but these two men came to a tricksy kind of end, and yet I could not help it 'Tis true that all my life I've served the Contraband, but no man ever knew me do a foul action; and now I do not like that men should call me felon, and like it less that they should call thee felon too Perhaps there s about this stone, and leads to ruin those that handle it I cannot say, for I as; but Blackbeard in an evil mood may have tied the treasure up to be a curse to any that use it for theot money to be touched at need; we may lie quiet this side the Channel, where thou shalt learn an honest trade, and when the o back to Moonfleet So let the jewel be, John; shall we not let the jewel be?'

He spoke earnestly, andain, and turnedht that what he said was true, and I re that life was like a 'Y', and that to each comes a time when tays part, and where heroad or the steep and narrow path So now I guessed that long ago I had chosen the broad road, and noas but walking farther down it in seeking after this evil treasure, and still I could not bear to give all up, and persuadedaway so fine a stone So instead of listening to good advice from one so much older than me, I set to work to talk hiain, and ever could sell it, ould give thewell inThus at the last Elzevir, as the stubbornest of reat love to me, and yielded here

It was ten o'clock before we set out together, to go again to Aldobrand's, et the stone I walked quickly enough, and talked all the ti back a little and said nothing, for it was sorely against his judgement that he came at all But as we neared the place I ceased my chatter, and so ent on in silence, each busy with his own thoughts, We did not come in front of Aldobrand's house, but turned out of the uessed would skirt the garden wall There were few peopleeven in the streets, and in this little lane there was not a soul to h walls We were not ed was the outside of Aldobrand's garden

Here we paused for aa last reave him no chance, for I had found a place where some bricks were loosened in the wall-face, and set h to scale for us, and in a minute we both dropped down in a bed of soft ooseberry-bushes that caught the clothes, and distinguishi+ng the outline of the house, made that way, till in a few steps we stood on the Pelouse or turf, which I had seen from the balcony three hours before I knew the twirl of the walks, and the pattern of the beds; the rank of hollyhocks that stood up all along the wall, and the poppies breathing out a faint sickly odour in the night An utter silence held all the garden, and, the night being very clear, there was still enough light to show the colours of the flohen one looked close at therey We kept in the shadow of the wall, and looked expectantly at the house But no ht have been a house of the dead for any noise the living ht in any , except in one behind the balcony, to which our eyes were turned first In that rooone to rest, for we could see a lattice of light where a lah the open work of the wooden blinds

'He is up still,' I whispered, 'and the outside shutters are not closed' Elzevir nodded, and then I rew I had no need of any light to see the bells of that great rushy thing, for it was different from any of the rest, and besides that was planted by itself

I pointed it out to Elzevir 'The stone lies by the stalk of that flower,' I said, 'on the side nearest to the house'; and then I stayed him with my hand upon his are, while I stepped on and got the stone

My feet sank in the soft earth as I passed through the fringe of poppies circling the outside of the bed, and so I stood beside the tall rushy flower The scarlet of its bells was al it, and I stooped to pick the dia for er, except the soft rich loa sparkle? I knelt down to make more sure, and looked all round the plant, and still found nothing, though it was light enough to see a pebble, reat diamond I kneell

It was not there, and yet I knew that I had seen it fall beyond all rooone!' I cried out in uish, but only heard a 'Hush!+' from hiain, and sifted the ers, to make sure the stone had not sunk in and been overlooked

But it was all to no purpose, and at last I stepped back to where Elzevir was, and begged hiht a piece of match in the shelter of the hollyhocks; and I would screen it with round, and not be seen from the house, and so search round the flower He did as I asked, not because he thought that I should find anything, but rather to huhtedlow, 'Let the stone be, lad, let it be; for either thou didst fail to ht, or others have been here before thee 'Tis ruled we should not touch the stone again, and so 'tis best; let be, let be; let us get hoently, and spoke with such an earnestness and pleading in his voice that one would have thought it was a woiant; and yet I would not hear, and broke away, sheltering theback to the red flower But this ti to the bed froround, and there I saw soht me up short

It was but a dint or impress on the soft brown loam, and yet, before my eyes ell upon it, I knew it for the print of a sharp heel-a sharp deep heel, having just in front of it the outline of a little foot There is a story every boy was given to read when I was young, of Crusoe wrecked upon a desert isle, alking one day on the shore, was staggered by a single footprint in the sand, because he learnt thus that there were savages in that sad place, where he thought he stood alone Yet I believe even that footprint in the sand was never greater blow to hiarden mould to me, for I remembered well the little shoes of polished leather, with their silver buckles and high-tilted heels

He had been here before us I found another footprint, and another leading towards thethe fire out in the soil It was no use searching farther now, for I kneell there was no diaht Elzevir by the arm 'Aldobrand has been here before us, and stole away the jewel,' I whispered sharp; and looking wildly round in the still night, saw the lattice of lah the wooden blinds of the balcony

'Well, there's an end of it!' said he, 'and we are saved further question 'Tis gone, so let us cry good riddance to it and be off' So he turned to go back, and there was one o with hio farther on the other path which led to ruin for us both For I had h the blinds of that , and sa thick and strong the boughs of the pear-tree were trained against the wall about the balcony

'Elzevir,' I said, sing the bitter disappointo till I have seen what is doing in that rooh the chinks' Perhaps he is not there, perhaps he has left our diaht to the house, not giving hi inme on, and I was not to be stopped by anyone fro us, for all the s except that one, were tight shuttered, and though our footsteps on the soft laoke no sound, I knew that Elzevir was following me It was no easy task to cli, for they lay close against the wall, and gave little hold for hand or foot Twice, ordown through the leaves to earth, and I paused and waited to hear if anyone was disturbed in the rooot my hand upon the parapet, and so ca froet oing on inside The outer shutters were still flung back, as they had been in the afternoon, and there was no difficulty in looking in, for I found an opening in the lattice-blind just level with my eyes, and could see all the rooe feast, and I think there were a score of candles orin holders on the table, or in sconces on the wall At the table, on the farther side of it fro the , sat Aldobrand, just as he sat when he told us the stone was a sham His face was turned towards the , and as I looked full at him it seemed impossible but that he should know that I was there