to tug the fierce moustache out of his mild face.]

"Give it him back," I said. But Uvo set his teeth against us both,
looking almost what he had just been called--looking abominably like
that fine evil gentleman in Hampton Court--and I could stand the whole
thing no longer. I rammed my own hand into Delavoye's pocket. And down
and away out into the night, like a fiend let loose, went Guy Berridge
and the ring with the peacock enamelled in white on a blood-red ground.

I turned again to Delavoye. His shoulders were up to his ears in wry
good humour.

"You may be right, Gilly, but now I ought really to sit up with him all
night. In any case I shall have it back in the morning, and then neither
you nor he shall ever see that unclean bird again!"

But he went so far as to show it to me across my counter, not many
minutes after young Berridge had shambled past, with bent head and
unshaven cheeks, to catch his usual train next morning.

"I did sit up with him," said Uvo. "We sat up till he dropped off in his
chair, and eventually I got him to bed more asleep than awake. But he's
as bad as ever again this morning, and he has surrendered the infernal
ring this time of his own accord I'm to break matters to the girl by
giving it back to her."

"You're a perfect hero to take it on!"

"I feel much more of a humbug, Gilly."

"When do you tackle her?"

"Never, my dear fellow! Can't you see the point? This white peacock's at
the bottom of the whole thing. Neither of them shall ever set eyes on it
again, and then you see if they don't marry and live happy ever after!"

"But are you going to throw the thing away?"

"Not if I can help it, Gilly. I'll tell you what I thought of doing.
There's a little working jeweller, over at Richmond, who made me quite a
good pin out of some heavy old studs that belonged to my father. I'm
going to take him this ring to-day and see if he can turn out a
duplicate for love or money."

"I'll go with you," I said, "if you can wait till the afternoon."

"We must be gone before Berridge has a chance of getting back," replied
Uvo, doubtfully; "otherwise I shall have to begin all over again,
because of course he'll come back cured and roaring for his ring. I
haven't quite decided what to say to him, but I fancy my imagination
will prove equal to the strain."

This seemed to me a rather cynical attitude to take, even in the best of
causes, and it certainly was not like Uvo Delavoye. Only too ca