appears, came to London on an unexpected mission, differing
from his ordinary trips. You may remember seeing in the papers some
weeks ago that an agent of the Van Vreck firm was robbed on shipboard
of a lot of pearls and things he was bringing to show an important
client in England--some Indian potentate. James tells us that _he_
procured the finest of the collection for the Van Vrecks, and as he is
a great expert, and can recognize jewels he has once seen, even when
disguised or cut up, or in different settings, he was asked to go to
London to help the police find and identify some of the lost valuables.

Also, he was instructed to buy more pearls, to be sold to the Indian
customer, instead of those stolen from the agent on shipboard. James
had not found any of the lost things; but he _had_ bought some pearls
the day before the burglary at Mrs. Ellsworth's.

Wasn't it _too_ unlucky? I have tried to give the poor fellow a little
consolation by reminding him how fortunate it is he hadn't bought
_more_, and that the loss will be the Van Vrecks' or that of some
insurance company, not _his_ personally. But he cannot be comforted. He
says that his not having ten thousand pounds' worth of pearls doesn't
console him for being robbed of _eight_ thousand pounds' worth.

James has little hope that the thieves will be found, for he feels that
the Van Vrecks are in for a run of bad luck, after the good fortune of
many years. They have lost the head of the firm--"the great Paul," as
James calls him--who has definitely retired, and occupies himself so
exclusively with his collection that he takes no interest in the
business.

Then there was the robbery on the ship, which, in James's opinion, must
have been the work of a masterly combination. And now another theft!
The poor fellow has _quite_ lost his nerve, which, as you know, has for
years not been that of a young man. His deafness, no doubt, partly
accounts for the timidity with which he has been afflicted since the
first (and only other) time he was robbed. And now he blames it for
what happened last night.

He's trained himself to be a light sleeper, and if he could hear as
well as other people, he thinks the thief would have waked him coming
into his room. Once in, the wretch must have drugged him, because the
pearls were in a parcel under his pillow. But how the man--or men--got
into the house is a myst