As he sank
down on the chair which stood close to him, he said in a hoarse voice:

"My God! it is gone. Without it the Great Experiment can come to
nothing!"

His words seemed to wake Margaret from her introspective mood. An
agonised spasm swept her face; but almost on the instant she was calm.
She almost smiled as she said:

"You may have left it in your room, Father. Perhaps it has fallen out
of the pocket-book whilst you were changing." Without a word we all
hurried into the next room through the open door between the study and
the bedroom. And then a sudden calm fell on us like a cloud of fear.

There! on the table, lay the Jewel of Seven Stars, shining and
sparkling with lurid light, as though each of the seven points of each
the seven stars gleamed through blood!

Timidly we each looked behind us, and then at each other. Margaret was
now like the rest of us. She had lost her statuesque calm. All the
introspective rigidity had gone from her; and she clasped her hands
together till the knuckles were white.

Without a word Mr. Trelawny raised the Jewel, and hurried with it into
the next room. As quietly as he could he opened the door of the safe
with the key fastened to his wrist and placed the Jewel within. When
the heavy doors were closed and locked he seemed to breathe more freely.

Somehow this episode, though a disturbing one in many ways, seemed to
bring us back to our old selves. Since we had left London we had all
been overstrained; and this was a sort of relief. Another step in our
strange enterprise had been effected.

The change back was more marked in Margaret than in any of us. Perhaps
it was that she was a woman, whilst we were men; perhaps it was that
she was younger than the rest; perhaps both reasons were effective,
each in its own way. At any rate the change was there, and I was
happier than I had been through the long journey. All her buoyancy,
her tenderness, her deep feeling seemed to shine forth once more; now
and again as her father's eyes rested on her, his face seemed to light
up.

Whilst we waited for the carts to arrive, Mr. Trelawny took us through
the house, pointing out and explaining where the objects which we had
brought with us were to be placed. In one respect only did he withhold
confidence. The positions of all those things which had connection
with the Great Experiment were not indicated. The cases containing them
were to be left in the outer hall, fo