on account of this bracelet that he had any anxiety. You can wear all
the others, if you have a fancy for keeping them, without a shadow of
risk."

"No, Mark, we will sell them every one. I don't think that I shall ever
care to wear any jewels again; and if I am ever presented at court and
have to do so, I would rather that you should buy some new ones fresh
from a jeweler's shop than wear anything that has come from India."

"To-morrow you shall both go to the bank with me to see them, and then I
will take them to some first-class jeweler's and get him to value them."

The visit was paid next day. Both Millicent and Mrs. Cunningham were
somewhat disappointed at the jewels.

"It is hardly fair to see them like this," Philip Cotter said. "They
would look very different if reset. No Indian jewels I have ever seen
show to advantage in their native settings; but many of the stones are
very large, and without knowing anything about them I should say that
they are worth the 50,000 pounds at which you say Colonel Thorndyke
valued them. He was not likely to be mistaken. He was evidently a judge
of these matters, and would hardly be likely to be far wrong."

"We will go with you to the jeweler's, Mark," Millicent said. "In the
first place, I shall not feel quite comfortable until I know that they
are out of your hands, and in the next place I should like to hear what
he thinks of them."

"I have a number of Indian jewels that I wish you to value for me," Mark
said, as, carrying the case, he entered the jeweler's shop. "They were
collected by Colonel Thorndyke, an uncle of mine, during service in
India."

The jeweler took them with him into a room behind the shop. The case was
opened, and the man took out sixty-eight small parcels it contained, and
opened them one after the other.

"I shall need a very careful examination of these before I can form any
estimate of their value," he said, after inspecting some of the more
important pieces of jewelry carefully. "They are a most magnificent
collection, and had they been properly cut in the first place they would
have been worth a very large sum. Unfortunately, the Indian princes
think more of size than of lustre, and have their stones cut very much
too flat to show off their full brilliancy. Some of these large ones I
should certainly advise to be recut, for what they will lose in weight
they will gain in beauty and value. However, sir, I will go through them
and give you