第53章

“Imakemyinterestsyours，andyoumakeyourinterestsmine。 Isn’tthatso，Pugh？“ “Tress，what——whatwasinthebox？“ “Iwillbefrankwithyou，Pugh。Iftherehadbeensomethinginthebox，wouldyouhavebeenwillingtogohalveswithmeinmydiscovery？“ “Gohalves！Inyourdiscovery，Tress！Givemewhatismine！“ “Withpleasure，Pugh，ifyouwilltellmewhatisyours。“ “If——ifyoudon’tgivemewhatwasintheboxI’ll——I’llsendforthepolice。“ “Do！ThenIshallbeabletohandtothemwhatwasintheboxinorderthatitmayberestoredtoitsproperowner。“ “Itsproperowner！I’mitsproperowner！“ “Excuseme，butIdon’tunderstandhowthatcanbe；atleast，untilthepolicehavemadeinquiries。Ishouldsaythattheproperownerwasthepersonfromwhomyoupurchasedthebox，or，moreprobably，thepersonfromwhomhepurchasedit，andbywhom，doubtless，itwassoldinignorance，orbymistake。Thus，Pugh，ifyouwillonlysendforthepolice，weshallearnthegratitudeofapersonofwhomweneverheardinourlives——Ifordiscoveringthecontentsofthebox，andyouforreturningthem。“ AsIsaidthis，Pugh’sfacewasastudy。Hegaspedforbreath。Heactuallytookouthishandkerchieftowipehisbrow。 “Tress，I——Idon’tthinkyouneedtouseatonelikethattome。 Itisn’tfriendly。What——whatwasinthebox？“ “Letusunderstandeachother，Pugh。Ifyoudon’thandoverwhatwasintheboxtothepolice，Igohalves。“ Pughbegantodanceaboutthefloor。 “WhatafoolIwastotrustyouwiththebox！IknewIcouldn’ttrustyou。“Isaidnothing。Iturnedandrangthebell。“What’sthatfor？“ “That，mydearPugh，isforbreakfast，and，ifyoudesireit，forthepolice。Youknow，althoughyouhavebreakfasted，Ihaven’t。 PerhapswhileIambreakingmyfast，youwouldliketosummontherepresentativesoflawandorder。“Bobcamein。Iorderedbreakfast。ThenIturnedtoPugh。“Isthereanythingyouwouldlike？“ “No，I——I’vebreakfasted。“ “Itwasn’tofbreakfastIwasthinking。Itwasof——somethingelse。 Bobisatyourservice，if，forinstance，youwishtosendhimonanerrand。“ “No，Iwantnothing。Bobcango。“Bobwent。Directlyhewasgone，Pughturnedtome。“Youshallhavehalf。Whatwasinthebox？“ “Ishallhavehalf？“ “Youshall！“ “Idon’tthinkitisnecessarythatthetermsofourlittleunderstandingshouldbeexpresslyembodiedinblackandwhite。I fancythat，underthecircumstance，Icantrustyou，Pugh。I believethatIamcapableofseeingthat，inthismatter，youdon’tdome。Thatwasinthebox。“ Iheldoutthecrystalbetweenmyfingerandthumb。 “Whatisit？“ “ThatiswhatIdesiretolearn。“ “Letmelookatit。“ “Youarewelcometolookatitwhereitis。Lookatitaslongasyoulike，andasclosely。“ Pughleanedovermyhand。Hiseyesbegantogleam。Heishimselfnotabadjudgeofpreciousstones，isPugh。 “It’s——it’s——Tress！——isitadiamond？“ “ThatquestionIhavealreadyaskedmyself。“ “Letmelookatit！Itwillbesafewithme！It’smine！“ Iimmediatelyputthethingbehindmyback。 “Pardonme，itbelongsneithertoyounortome。Itbelongs，inallprobability，tothepersonwhosoldthatpuzzletothemanfromwhomyouboughtit——perhapssomeweepingwidow，Pugh，orhopelessorphan——thinkofit。Letushavenofurthermisunderstandinguponthatpoint，mydearoldfriend。Still，becauseyouaremydearoldfriend，Iamwillingtotrustyouwiththisdiscoveryofmine，onconditionthatyoudon’tattempttoremoveitfrommysight，andthatyoureturnittomethemomentIrequireyou。“ “You’re——you’reveryhardonme。“Imadeamovementtowardmywaistcoatpocket。“I’llreturnittoyou！“ Ihandedhimthecrystal，andwithitIhandedhimmypocketlens。 “WiththeaidofthatglassIimaginethatyouwillbeabletosubjectittoamoreacuteexamination，Pugh。“ Hebegantoexamineitthroughthelens。Directlyhedidso，hegaveanexclamation。Inafewmomentshelookedupatme。Hiseyeswereglisteningbehindhisspectacles。Icouldseehetrembled。 “Tress，it’s——it’sadiamond，aBrazildiamond。It’sworthafortune！“ “I’mgladyouthinkso。“ “GladIthinkso！Don’tyouthinkthatit’sadiamond？“ “Itappearstobeadiamond。UnderordinaryconditionsIshouldsay，withouthesitation，thatitwasadiamond。ButwhenI considerthecircumstancesofitsdiscovery，Iamdriventodoubts。 Howmuchdidyougiveforthatpuzzle，Pugh？“ “Ninepence；thefellowwantedashilling，butIgavehimninepence。 Heseemedcontent。“ “Ninepence！Doesitseemreasonablethatweshouldfindadiamond，which，ifitisadiamond，isthefineststoneIeversawandhandled，inaninepennypuzzle？Itisnotasthoughithadgotintothethingbyaccident，ithadevidentlybeenplacedtheretobefound，and，apparently，byanyonewhochancedtosolvethepuzzle；witnessthewritingonthescrapofpaper。“ Pughre-examinedthecrystal。 “Itisadiamond！I’llstakemylifethatit’sadiamond！“ “Still，thoughitbeadiamond，Ismellarat！“ “Whatdoyoumean？“ “Istronglysuspectthatthepersonwhoplacedthatdiamondinsidethatpuzzleintendedtohaveajokeattheexpenseofthepersonwhodiscoveredit。WhatwastobethenatureofthejokeismorethanIcansayatpresent，butIshouldliketohaveabetwithyouthatthemanwhocompoundedthatpuzzlewasaningeniouspracticaljoker。Imaybewrong，Pugh；weshallsee。But，untilIhaveprovedthecontrary，Idon’tbelievethatthemaddestmanthateverlivedwouldthrowawayadiamondworth，apparently，shallwesayathousandpounds？“ “Athousandpounds！Thisdiamondisworthagooddealmorethanathousandpounds。“ “Well，thatonlymakesmycasethestronger；Idon’tbelievethatthemaddestmanthateverlivedwouldthrowawayadiamondworthmorethanathousandpoundswithsuchutterwantonnessasseemstohavecharacterizedtheactionoftheoriginalownerofthestonewhichIfoundinyourninepennypuzzle，Pugh。“ “Therehavebeensomeeccentriccharactersintheworld，someveryeccentriccharacters。However，asyousay，weshallsee。IfancythatIknowsomebodywhowouldbequitewillingtohavesuchadiamondasthis，andwho，moreover，wouldbewillingtopayafairpriceforitspossession；Iwilltakeittohimandseewhathesays。“ “Pugh，handmebackthatdiamond。“ “MydearTress，Iwasonlygoing——“ Bobcameinwiththebreakfasttray。 “Pugh，youwilleitherhandmethatatonce，orBobshallsummontherepresentativesoflawandorder。“ Hehandedmethediamond。Isatdowntobreakfastwithaheartyappetite。Pughstoodandscowledatme。 “JosephTress，itismysolemnconviction，andIhavenohesitationinsayingsoinplainEnglish，thatyou’reathief。“ “MydearPugh，itseemstomethatweshoweverypromiseofbecomingacoupleofthieves。“ “Don’tbracketmewithyou！“ “Notatall，youareworsethanI。Itisyouwhodeclinetoreturnthecontentsoftheboxtoitsproperowner。Putittoyourself，youhaveSOMEcommonsense，mydearoldfriendI——doyousupposethatadiamondworthmorethanathousandpoundsistobeHONESTLY boughtforninepence？“ Heresumedhisoldtrickofdancingabouttheroom。 “Iwasafoolevertoletyouhavethebox！Ioughttohaveknownbetterthantohavetrustedyou；goodnessknowsyouhavegivenmesufficientcausetomistrustyou！Overandoveragain！Yourcharacterisonlytoonotorious！Youhaveplunderedfriendandfoealike——friendandfoealike！Asfortherubbishwhichyoucallyourcollection，ninetenthsofit，Iknowasapositivefact，youhavestolenoutandout。“ “WhostolemySirWalterRaleighpipe？Wasn’titamannamedPugh？“ “Lookhere，JosephTress！“ “I’mlooking。“ “Oh，it’snogoodtalkingtoyou，nottheleast！You’re——you’redeadtoallthepromptingsofconscience！MayIinquire，Mr。 Tress，whatitisyouproposetodo？“ “IPROPOSEtodonothing，exceptsummontherepresentativesoflawandorder。Failingthat，mydearPugh，Ihadsomefaint，vague，veryvagueideaoftakingthecontentsofyourninepennypuzzletoacertainfirminHattonGarden，whoaredealersinpreciousstones，andtolearnfromthemiftheyaredisposedtogiveanythingforit，andifso，what。“ “Ishallcomewithyou。“ “Withpleasure，onconditionthatyoupaythecab。“ “Ipaythecab！Iwillpayhalf。“ “Notatall。Youwilleitherpaythewholefare，orelseIwillhaveonecabandyoushallhaveanother。Itisathree-shillingcabfarefromheretoHattonGarden。Ifyouproposetosharemycab，youwillbesogoodastohandoverthatthreeshillingsbeforewestart。“ Hegasped，buthehandedoverthethreeshillings。TherearefewthingsIenjoysomuchasgettingmoneyoutofPugh！ OntheroadtoHattonGardenwewranglednearlyalltheway。IownthatIfeelacertainsatisfactioninirritatingPugh，heissuchanirritableman。HewantedtoknowwhatIthoughtweshouldgetforthediamond。 “Youcan’texpecttogetmuchforthecontentsofaninepennypuzzle，noteventhepriceofacabfare，Pugh。“ Heeyedme，butforsomeminuteshewassilent。Thenhebeganagain。 “Tress，Idon’tthinkweoughttoletitgoforlessthan——thanfivethousandpounds。“ “Seriously，Pugh，Idoubtwhether，whenthewholeaffairisended，weshallgetfivethousandpenceforit，or，forthematterofthat，fivethousandfarthings。“ “Butwhynot？Whynot？It’samagnificentstone——magnificent！ I’llstakemylifeonit。“ Itappedmybreastwiththetipsofmyfingers。 “There’sawarningvoicewithinmybreastthatoughttobeinyours，Pugh！Somethingtellsme，perhapsitistheunusuallystrongveinofcommonsensewhichIpossess，thatthecontentsofyourninepennypuzzlewillbefoundtobeamagnificentdo——aningeniouspracticaljoke，myfriend。“ “Idon’tbelieveit。“ ButIthinkhedid；atanyrate，Ihadunsettledthefoundationsofhisfaith。 WeenteredtheHattonGardenofficesidebyside；inhisanxietynottoletmegetbeforehim，Pughactuallyclungtomyarm。Theofficewasdividedintotwopartsbyacounterwhichranfromwalltowall。Iadvancedtoamanwhostoodontheothersideofthiscounter。 “Iwanttosellyouadiamond。“ “WEwanttosellyouadiamond，“interpolatedPugh。 IturnedtoPugh。I“fixed“himwithmyglance。 “Iwanttosellyouadiamond。Hereitis。Whatwillyougivemeforit？“ TakingthecrystalfrommywaistcoatpocketIhandedittothemanontheothersideofthecounter。Directlyhegotitbetweenhisfingers，andsawthatitwasthathehadgot，Inoticedasuddengleamcomeintohiseyes。 “Thisis——thisisratherafinestone。“ Pughnudgedmyarm。 “Itoldyouso。“IpaidnoattentiontoPugh。“Whatwillyougivemeforit？“ “Doyoumean，whatwillIgiveyouforitcashdownuponthenail？“ “Justso——whatwillyougivemeforitcashdownuponthenail？“ Themanturnedthecrystaloverandoverinhisfingers。“Well，that’sratheralargeorder。Wedon’toftengetachanceofbuyingsuchastoneasthisacrossthecounter。Whatdoyousayto——well—— totenthousandpounds？“ Tenthousandpounds！Itwasbeyondmywildestimaginings。Pughgasped。Helurchedagainstthecounter。 “Tenthousandpounds！“heechoed。