ith an emerald
clasp? Oh, _do_, do look!"

"My sapphires! They were taken, too. My sapphires!--"

They fell on their knees, regardless of their filmy draperies, and
grasped at one shining treasure after another. The delicate chains were
knotted together; curved corners of gold had caught in other curved
corners, so that in some cases half a dozen different ornaments
presented the appearance of one big, bejewelled ball, and it was no easy
matter to disentangle one from the other. The different owners,
however, showed a marvellous quickness in recognising even a fragment of
their lost treasures, and their exultation was somewhat undignified as
they turned and twisted and coaxed the dainty threads, and finally
clasped their lost treasures, safe and sound, and all the time Darsie
sat back on her heels, with her golden hair hanging in heavy masses over
her shoulders, her eyes fixed upon this extraordinary scene, staring--
staring!

"Darsie, dear child, how can we thank you?" Mrs Percival's low voice
trembled with earnestness; she had lifted a long string of pearls from
the grass, and now held it between both hands, with a transparent
pleasure it was true, but without any of the hysteric excitement shown
by her guests.

"Do you realise all that your workman's bundle contained, or the weight
you have taken off our minds? It was the thief's bundle, the bundle of
jewels which he stole from the house on the night of the Hunt Ball,
which we have tried so hard to recover! To think--to think that all
this time they have been hidden close at hand!"

"Hidden with a purpose, too! Look at this, Evelyn!" interrupted Mr
Percival, holding out a corner of the checked handkerchief towards his
wife, with a stern look on his handsome face--

"`B.W.' That's Wilson's property! He was a worse offender than we
thought."

"Wilson? That was the young gamekeeper, wasn't it?" asked another man--
the husband of the lady who was still crooning over her recovered
diamonds. "You thought he had been led away by smart London thieves,
but this seems as if he had taken a leading part. Looks, too, as if
there may have been only himself and Forbes in the affair!"

"Just so! No wonder Wilson refused to give the names of his colleagues.
When the chase grew too hot he hid the spoils in this tree--evidently
an old hiding-place--before climbing the wall. If he had made clear
away that night we should never have suspected his share in the th