you."

"But, Alison! to what end?"

"Well," she said languidly, smiling with amusement at his bewilderment,
"I thought it might be fun to hoodwink you."

"But--I fail to see the joke."

"And will, until I tell you All."

Her tone supplied the capital letter.

He shrugged helplessly. "Proceed ..."

"Well," she began with sublime insouciance, "you see, I'd been figuring
all the while on getting the necklace home duty-free. And I finally hit
upon what seemed a rather neat little plot. The hat was part of it; I
bought it for the express purpose of smuggling the necklace in,
concealed in its lining. Up to that point you weren't involved. Then by
happy accident I saw your name on the list. Instantly it flashed upon
me, how I could make you useful. It was just possible, you see, that
those hateful customs men might be shrewd enough to search the hat, too.
How much better, then, to make you bring in the hat, all unsuspecting!
They'd never think of searching it in your hands! You see?"

His face had been hardening during this amazing speech. When she stopped
he shot in a crisp question:

"The necklace wasn't in the hat when delivered to me? You didn't trust
it to the shop people over night?"

"Of course not. I merely sent you the hat; then--as I knew you
would--you mentioned it to me aboard ship. I got you to bring it to my
room, and then sent you out--you remember? While you waited I sewed the
necklace in the lining; it took only an instant. Then Jane carried the
hat back to your steward."

"So," he commented stupidly, "it wasn't stolen!"

"Naturally not."

"But you threw suspicion on Iff--"

"I daresay he was guilty enough in intent, if not in deed. There's not
the slightest doubt in my mind that he's that man Ismay, really, and
that he shipped with us for the especial purpose of stealing the
necklace if he got half a chance."

"You may be right; I don't know--and neither do you. But do you realise
that you came near causing an innocent man to be jailed for the theft?"

"But I didn't. He got away."

"But not Iff alone--there's myself. Have you paused to consider what
would have happened to me if the inspector had happened to find that
necklace in the hat? Heavens knows how he missed it! He was persistent
enough!... But if he had found it, I'd have been jailed for theft."

"Oh, no," she said sweetly; "I'd never have let it go that far."

"Not even if to confess would mean that you'd be sent to jail for