eorge, any doubt but that this special necklace had acquired so much
public notice from the fact of the threatened lawsuit, as might make
its circumstances and value known to London thieves. The tall footman
was not examined, but was detained by the police under a remand given
by the magistrates.

Much information as to what had been done oozed out in spite of the
precautions of the discreet superintendent. The wires had been put
into operation in every direction, and it had been discovered that
one man whom nobody knew had left the down mail train at Annan, and
another at Dumfries. These men had taken tickets by the train leaving
Carlisle between four and five a.m., and were supposed to have been
the two thieves. It had been nearly seven before the theft had been
discovered, and by that time not only had the men reached the towns
named, but had had time to make their way back again or farther on
into Scotland. At any rate, for the present, all trace of them was
lost. The sergeant of police did not doubt but that one of these men
was making his way up to London with the necklace in his pocket. This
was told to Lizzie by Lord George; and though she was awe-struck
by the danger of her situation, she nevertheless did feel some
satisfaction in remembering that she and she only held the key of the
mystery. And then as to those poor thieves! What must have been their
consternation when they found, after all the labour and perils of the
night, that the box contained no diamonds,--that the treasure was not
there, and that they were nevertheless bound to save themselves by
flight and stratagem from the hands of the police! Lizzie, as she
thought of this, almost pitied the poor thieves. What a consternation
there would be among the Camperdowns and Garnetts, among the Mopuses
and Benjamins, when the news was heard in London! Lizzie almost
enjoyed it. As her mind went on making fresh schemes on the subject,
a morbid desire of increasing the mystery took possession of her.
She was quite sure that nobody knew her secret, and that nobody as
yet could even guess it. There was great danger, but there might be
delight and even profit if she could safely dispose of the jewels
before suspicion against herself should be aroused. She could
understand that a rumour should get to the police that the box had
been empty, even if the thieves were not taken;--but such rumour
would avail nothing if she could only dispose of the diamonds. As
she fi