to dispose of the stone. Does the fact that
it was stolen from his royal master--that it has for some years been
out of the king's possession--in any way lessen or invalidate his right
to it? Surely you would not dispute that?"

"I don't propose debating the matter with you." And then I pointed
out: "If his claim is good, there are the courts."

Burke's shoulders twitched in a tiny shrug.

"Who can fathom the Oriental mind?" said he, oracularly.

I swung on my heel squarely away from him; I had no more patience for
such shuffling with words.

"You come with me," I said curtly; "I 'll at least get you straight on
the police docket--since you seem to prefer it to frankness."

He was out of his chair like a flash.

"No--no--no, Swift!" he implored. "I swear I'm telling the truth. Not
that I--not that!" He hesitated a second.

"It was n't the ruby that was in the bar of soap"--the words literally
dragged from his lips. "_I_ thought it was. But it was only the paste
imitation."

CHAPTER XXIV

CONFESSION

I stared at Burke in speechless amazement.

The tremendous possibilities opened up by this revelation left me
bewildered. But the wave of joy which suddenly swept over me was
unmistakable.

"Then, how--" I began, and stopped.

If I could not understand, it was only too clear that Burke could not
tell me what I wanted to know; for it was also plain that he too was
utterly at a loss to account for the circumstance. This, then, had
been the intelligence imparted by the Burman on Friday morning, which
had so upset Fluette and Burke.

But again, why in the first place should Burke have informed the
Burmese of the supposed gem's hiding-place? And how could it have been
the replica instead of the real stone? The whole thing was fraught
with many perplexities; something here, which I could not seize upon,
flaunted itself in obscurity, and if I wanted to learn more from Burke
it would not do for him to discover how far I was at sea. Was it
possible that he still fostered a hope of getting his fingers upon the
real gem?

I was again surveying him with a cold, suspicious eye.

"Burke," I said, "just how did you come to put the gem--or the paste
replica--in the soap?"

For a long time he sat contemplating his hand, first the back and then
the palm, and then closing the fingers and scrutinizing the nails.
Finally, with another shrug and a little gesture in which I read
resignation, he said: