desire to attack his position, sat upon her left and monopolized the
conversation. On the third night it turned, by chance, upon precious
stones. Peter Ruff drew a little chamois leather bag from his pocket.

"I am afraid," he said, "that my tastes are peculiar. I have been in the
East, and I have seen very many precious stones in their uncut state. To
my mind, there is nothing to be compared with opals. These are a few I
brought home from India. Perhaps you would like to look at them, Mrs.
Bognor."

They were passed round, amidst a little chorus of admiration.

"The large one with the blue fire," Peter Ruff remarked, "is, I think,
remarkably beautiful. I have never seen a stone quite like it."

"It is wonderful!" murmured the young lady who was sitting at Major
Jones's right hand. "What a fortunate man you are, Mr. Ruff, to have
such a collection of treasures!"

Peter Ruff bowed across the table. Major Jones, who was beginning to
feel that his position as show guest was in danger, thrust his hand
into his waistcoat pocket and produced a lady's ring, in which was set a
single opal.

"Very pretty stones," he remarked carelessly, "but I can't say I am very
fond of them. Here's one that belonged to my sister, and my grandmother
before her. I have it in my pocket because I was thinking of having the
stone reset and making a present of it to a friend of mine."

Peter Ruff's popularity waned--he had said nothing about making a
present to any one of even the most insignificant of his opals! And
the one which Major Jones now handed round was certainly a magnificent
stone. Peter Ruff examined it with the rest, and under the pretext
of studying the setting, gazed steadfastly at the inside through his
eyeglass. Major Jones, from the other side of the table, frowned, and
held out his hand for the ring.

"A very beautiful stone indeed!" Peter Ruff declared, passing it across
the tablecloth. "Really, I do not think that there is one in my little
collection to be compared with it. Have you many treasures like this,
Major Jones?"

"Oh, a few!" the Major answered carelessly, "family heirlooms, most of
them."

"You will have to give me the ring, Major Jones," the young lady on his
right remarked archly. "It's bad luck, you know, to give it to any one
who is not born in October, and my birthday is on the twelfth."

"My dear Miss Levey," Major Jones answered, whispering in her ear, "more
unlikely things have happened than th