r's
salary, and it's by no means certain that you will be with me so long."

"I was afraid you wouldn't," said Daphne, with a little droop at the
corners of her extremely pretty mouth. "So I brought this to show you."
She held out the leather case. "It's the only jewellery I've got. It
belonged to my father, I believe; he and my real mother both died when I
was a baby, you know--and I never meant to part with it. But now I'm
afraid I must--that is, if you think any jeweller would give as much as
thirty pounds for it."

Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson opened the case, which was much more modern than
the kind of badge or pendant it contained. This was a fairly large oval
stone of a milky green, deeply engraved with strangely formed letters
interlaced in a cypher, and surrounded by a border of dark blue gems
which Mrs. Stimpson decided instantly must be Cabochon star sapphires of
quite exceptional quality. The gold chain attached to it was antique and
of fine and curious workmanship.

She was convinced that the pendant must be worth considerably more than
thirty pounds, though she was no doubt right in telling Daphne that no
jeweller would offer so much for an ornament that was quite out of
fashion. "Besides," she said, "I don't like the idea of any governess of
mine going about offering jewellery for sale. Have Edna or Ruby seen you
wearing this thing?" she asked with apparent irrelevance.

It appeared they had not; Daphne had never worn it herself, and she had
only remembered its existence that afternoon, and found it hidden away
at the back of her wardrobe.

"Well," said Mrs. Stimpson, "it is most unpleasant to me to see a young
girl like you owing all this money to her milliner."

"It isn't very pleasant for _me_," said Daphne ruefully; "but if you
won't advance the money, and I can't or mustn't sell the pendant, I
don't very well see how I can help it."

"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mrs. Stimpson. "I really _oughtn't_
to--and under ordinary circumstances I couldn't afford it, but, as it
happens, a great-uncle of mine left me a small legacy not long ago, and
I haven't spent quite all of it yet. So I don't mind buying this for
thirty pounds myself."

"Will you really?" cried Daphne. "How angelic of you!"

"I think it is," said Mrs. Stimpson; "but I feel myself responsible for
you, to some extent. So I'll write you a cheque for the thirty pounds,
and you can send it off to this milliner person at once." She went