or Hockin's breath was short, through too much talking without
action, and he waited for a minute at this door, to come back to his
equanimity. And I thought that our female breath falls short for the
very opposite reason--when we do too much and talk too little; which
happily seldom happens.

He was not long in coming back to his usual sprightliness and decision.
And it was no small relief to me, who was looking at him miserably,
and longing that his wife was there, through that very sad
one-and-eightpence, when he pulled out a key, which he always carried
as signer and lord of Bruntsea, the key of the town-hall, which had
survived lock, door, and walls by centuries, and therewith struck a door
which must have reminded that key of its fine old youth.

Before he had knocked so very many times, the door was opened by a young
man wearing an apron and a brown paper cap, who knew Major Hockin at
once, and showed us up stairs to a long low workshop. Here were many
wheels and plates and cylinders revolving by energy of a strap which
came through the floor and went through the ceiling. And the young man
told us to be careful how we walked, for fear of getting entangled.
Several men, wearing paper caps and aprons of leather or baize, were
sitting doing dextrous work, no doubt, and doing it very easily, and the
master of them all was hissing over some fine touch of jewel as a groom
does at a horse. Then seeing us, he dropped his holders, and threw a
leather upon his large lens, and came and took us to a little side room.

"Are you not afraid to leave them?" asked the Major. "They may secrete
some gems, Mr. Handkin."

"Never," said the lapidary, with some pride. "I could trust these men
with the Koh-i-noor; which we could have done better, I believe, than
it was done by the Hollanders. But we don't get the chance to do much in
diamonds, through the old superstition about Amsterdam, and so on. No,
no; the only thing I can't trust my men about is to work as hard when
I am away as when I am there. And now, Sir, what can I do for you? Any
more Bruntsea pebbles? The last were not worth the cutting."

"So you said; but I did not think so. We have some agates as good as
any from Aberystwith or Perthshire. But what I want now is to open this
case. It must be done quite privately, for a most particular reason. It
does open, doesn't it? I am sure it does."

"Certainly it opens," Mr. Handkin answered, while I trembled with
anxiety as