that possibly I--er--possibly I--'

"'Put the jewel in the safe yourself?' I suggested.

"'Yes,' said Mrs. Burlingame,' with a grateful glance and a tremendous sigh
of relief. 'Now that I think of it, Mr. Raffles Holmes--that _was_ it. I--
er--I remember perfectly that--er--that I didn't wear it at all the night of
my little dinner, and that I _did_ leave it behind me when I left town.'"

"Humph!" said I. "That may account for the extra $5000--"

"It may," said Raffles Holmes, pursing his lips into a deprecatory smile.

IV
THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING PENDANTS

"I think," said Raffles Holmes, as he ran over his expense account while
sitting in my library one night some months ago, "that in view of the
present condition of my exchequer, my dear Jenkins, it behooveth me to get
busy. Owning a motor-car is a demned expensive piece of business, and my
balance at the back has shrunk to about $1683.59, thanks to my bills for
cogs, clutches, and gasoline, plus the chauffeur's fines."

"In what capacity shall you work, Raffles or Holmes?" I asked, pausing in my
writing and regarding him with that affectionate interest which contact with
him had inspired in me.

"Play the combination always, Jenkins," he replied. "If I did the Raffles
act alone, I should become the billionaire in this land of silk and money,
your rich are so careless of their wealth--but where would my conscience be?
On the other hand, if I stuck to the Holmes act exclusively, I'd starve to
death; but the combination--ah--there is moderate fortune, my boy, with
peace of mind thrown in."

Here he rose up, buttoned his coat about his spare figure, and reached out
for his hat.

"I guess I'll tackle that case of the missing pendants to-morrow," he
continued, flicking the ash from his cigar and gazing up at the ceiling with
that strange twist in his eye which I had learned to regard as the harbinger
of a dawning idea in his mind. "There's ten thousand dollars for somebody in
that job, and you and I might as well have it as any one else."

"I'm ready," said I, as well I might be, for all I had to do in the matter
was to record the adventure and take my half of the profits--no very
difficult proceeding in either case.

"Good," quoth he. "I'll go to Gaffany & Co. to-morrow and offer my
services."

"You have a clew?" I asked.

"I have an idea," he answered. "As for the lost diamonds, I know no more of
their whereabouts than you do, but I shall be able