of Mr. Rolles they proved one and all vain; he was harassed by a
dozen different anxieties - the old man in the other end of the

carriage haunted him in the most alarming shapes; and in whatever
attitude he chose to lie the diamond in his pocket occasioned him a

sensible physicaldistress. It burned, it was too large, it
bruised his ribs; and there were infinitesimal fractions of a

second in which he had half a mind to throw it from the window.
While he was thus lying, a strange incident took place.

The sliding-door into the lavatory stirred a little, and then a
little more, and was finally drawn back for the space of about

twenty inches. The lamp in the lavatory was unshaded, and in the
lighted aperture thus disclosed, Mr. Rolles could see the head of

Mr. Vandeleur in an attitude of deep attention. He was conscious
that the gaze of the Dictator rested intently on his own face; and

the instinct of self-preservation moved him to hold his breath, to
refrain from the least movement, and keeping his eyes lowered, to

watch his visitor from underneath the lashes. After about a
moment, the head was withdrawn and the door of the lavatory

replaced.
The Dictator had not come to attack, but to observe; his action was

not that of a man threatening another, but that of a man who was
himself threatened; if Mr. Rolles was afraid of him, it appeared

that he, in his turn, was not quite easy on the score of Mr.
Rolles. He had come, it would seem, to make sure that his only

fellow-traveller was asleep; and, when satisfied on that point, he
had at once withdrawn.

The clergyman leaped to his feet. The extreme of terror had given
place to a reaction of foolhardy daring. He reflected that the

rattle of the flying train concealed all other sounds, and
determined, come what might, to return the visit he had just

received. Divesting himself of his cloak, which might have
interfered with the freedom of his action, he entered the lavatory

and paused to listen. As he had expected, there was nothing to be
heard above the roar of the train's progress; and laying his hand

on the door at the farther side, he proceeded cautiously to draw it
back for about six inches. Then he stopped, and could not contain

an ejaculation of surprise.
John Vandeleur wore a fur travelling cap with lappets to protect

his ears; and this may have combined with the sound of the express
to keep him in ignorance of what was going forward. It is certain,

at least, that he did not raise his head, but continued without
interruption to pursue his strange employment. Between his feet

stood an open hat-box; in one hand he held the sleeve of his
sealskin great-coat; in the other a formidable knife, with which he

had just slit up the lining of the sleeve. Mr. Rolles had read of
persons carrying money in a belt; and as he had no acquaintance

with any but cricket-belts, he had never been able rightly to
conceive how this was managed. But here was a stranger thing

before his eyes; for John Vandeleur, it appeared, carried diamonds
in the lining of his sleeve; and even as the young clergyman gazed,

he could see one glittering brilliant drop after another into the
hat-box.

He stood riveted to the spot, following this unusual business with
his eyes. The diamonds were, for the most part, small, and not

easily distinguishable either in shape or fire. Suddenly the
Dictator appeared to find a difficulty; he employed both hands and

stooped over his task; but it was not until after considerable
manoeuvring that he extricated a large tiara of diamonds from the

lining, and held it up for some seconds' examination before he
placed it with the others in the hat-box. The tiara was a ray of

light to Mr. Rolles; he immediately recognised it for a part of the
treasure stolen from Harry Hartley by the loiterer. There was no

room for mistake; it was exactly as the detective had described it;
there were the ruby stars, with a great emerald in the centre;

there were the interlacing crescents; and there were the pear-
shaped pendants, each a single stone, which gave a special value to

Lady Vandeleur's tiara.
Mr. Rolles was hugely relieved. The Dictator was as deeply in the

affair as he was; neither could tell tales upon the other. In the
first glow of happiness, the clergyman suffered a deep sigh to

escape him; and as his bosom had become choked and his throat dry
during his previoussuspense, the sigh was followed by a cough.

Mr. Vandeleur looked up; his face contracted with the blackest and
most deadlypassion; his eyes opened widely, and his under jaw

dropped in an astonishment that was upon the brink of fury. By an
instinctive movement he had covered the hat-box with the coat. For

half a minute the two men stared upon each other in silence. It
was not a long interval, but it sufficed for Mr. Rolles; he was one

of those who think swiftly on dangerous occasions; he decided on a
course of action of a singularly daring nature; and although he

felt he was setting his life upon the hazard, he was the first to
break silence.

"I beg your pardon," said he.
The Dictator shivered slightly, and when he spoke his voice was

hoarse.
"What do you want here?" he asked.

"I take a particular interest in diamonds," replied Mr. Rolles,
with an air of perfect self-possession. "Two connoisseurs should

be acquainted. I have here a trifle of my own which may perhaps
serve for an introduction."

And so saying, he quietly took the case from his pocket, showed the
Rajah's Diamond to the Dictator for an instant, and replaced it in

security.
"It was once your brother's," he added.

John Vandeleur continued to regard him with a look of almost
painful amazement; but he neither spoke nor moved.

"I was pleased to observe," resumed the young man, "that we have
gems from the same collection."

The Dictator's surprise overpowered him.
"I beg your pardon," he said; "I begin to perceive that I am

growing old! I am positively not prepared for little incidents
like this. But set my mind at rest upon one point: do my eyes

deceive me, or are you indeed a parson?"
"I am in holy orders," answered Mr. Rolles.

"Well," cried the other, "as long as I live I will never hear
another word against the cloth!"

"You flatter me," said Mr. Rolles.
"Pardon me," replied Vandeleur; "pardon me, young man. You are no

coward, but it still remains to be seen whether you are not the
worst of fools. Perhaps," he continued, leaning back upon his

seat, "perhaps you would oblige me with a few particulars. I must
suppose you had some object in the stupefying impudence of your

proceedings, and I confess I have a curiosity to know it."
"It is very simple," replied the clergyman; "it proceeds from my

great inexperience of life."
"I shall be glad to be persuaded," answered Vandeleur.

Whereupon Mr. Rolles told him the whole story of his connection
with the Rajah's Diamond, from the time he found it in Raeburn's

garden to the time when he left London in the Flying Scotchman. He
added a brief sketch of his feelings and thoughts during the

journey, and concluded in these words:-
"When I recognised the tiara I knew we were in the same attitude

towards Society, and this inspired me with a hope, which I trust
you will say was not ill-founded, that you might become in some

sense my partner in the difficulties and, of course, the profits of
my situation. To one of your special knowledge and obviously great

experience the negotiation of the diamond would give but little
trouble, while to me it was a matter of impossibility. On the

other part, I judged that I might lose nearly as much by cutting
the diamond, and that not improbably with an unskilful hand, as

might enable me to pay you with proper generosity for your
assistance. The subject was a delicate one to broach; and perhaps

I fell short in delicacy. But I must ask you to remember that for
me the situation was a new one, and I was entirely unacquainted

with the etiquette in use. I believe without vanity that I could
have married or baptized you in a very acceptable manner; but every

man has his own aptitudes, and this sort of bargain was not among
the list of my accomplishments."