woman! It seemed my sister had quite recently changed her house,
and the present occupant had been put to some slight inconvenience
before by people calling and leaving parcels after her departure. She
gave me Jane's new address, which was only in the next street, and I
apologized and made my bow at once. My going to the wrong house was such
a slight occurrence that I almost forgot it at the time, until I was
reminded of it by a very sad event which happened afterwards.

Jane was delighted to see me. It seemed she had written to inform me of
her change of address, but the letter did not reach me before I started
for England with the Danvers jewels, about which I have been asked to
write this account. Considering this _is_ an account of the jewels, it
is wonderful how seldom I have had occasion to mention them so far; but
you may rest assured that all this time they were safe in their bag
under my waiscoat; and knowing I had them there all right, I did not
trouble my head much about them. I never was a person to worry about
things.

Still I had no wish to be inconvenienced by a hard packet of little
knobs against my chest any longer than was necessary, and I wrote the
same evening to Sir George Danvers, stating the bare facts of the case,
and asking what steps he or his second son wished me to take to put the
legacy in the possession of its owner. I had no notion of trusting a
packet of such immense value to the newly organized Parcels Post. With
jewels I consider you cannot be too cautious. Indeed, I told Jane so at
the time, and she quite agreed with me.

CHAPTER III.

I did not much like the arrangement of Jane's new house when I came to
stay in it. The way the two bedrooms, hers and mine, were shut off from
the rest of the house by a door, barred and locked at night for fear of
burglars, was, I thought, unpleasant, especially as, once in my room for
the night, there was no possibility of getting out of it, the key of the
door of the passage not being even allowed to remain in the lock, but
retiring with Jane, the canary cage, and other valuables, into her own
apartment. I remonstrated, but I soon found that Jane had not remained
unmarried for nothing. She was decided on the point. The outer door
would be locked as usual, and the key would be deposited under the
pin-cushion in her room, as usual; and it was so.

The next morning, as Jane and I went out for a stroll before luncheon,
we had to pass the hous