it plustot que le mauvais esprit, qui se transforme en
Ange de lumiere se loge dans les pierres precieuses, a fin que l'on ne
recoure pas a Dieu, mais que l'on repose sa creance dans la pierre
precieuse; ainsi, peut-etre, il decoit nos esprits par la turquoise:
car la turquoise est de deux sortes, les unes qui conservent leur
couleur et les autres qui la perdent.' _Anselm de Boot_, Book II.]

'You thus see,' resumed Zaleski, 'that the turquoise was believed to
have the property of changing its colour--a change which was
universally supposed to indicate the fading away and death of its
owner. The good De Boot, alas, believed this to be a property of too
many other stones beside, like the Hebrews in respect of their urim and
thummim; but in the case of the turquoise, at least, it is a
well-authenticated natural phenomenon, and I have myself seen such a
specimen. In some cases the change is a gradual process; in others it
may occur suddenly within an hour, especially when the gem, long kept
in the dark, is exposed to brilliant sunshine. I should say, however,
that in this metamorphosis there is always an intermediate stage: the
stone first changes from blue to a pale colour spotted with brown, and,
lastly, to a pure white. Thus, Ul-Jabal having stolen the stone, finds
that it is of the wrong colour, and soon after replaces it; he supposes
that in the darkness he has selected the wrong chalice, and so takes
the valueless stone from the other. This, too, he replaces, and,
infinitely puzzled, makes yet another hopeless trial of the Edmundsbury
chalice, and, again baffled, again replaces it, concluding now that the
baronet has suspected his designs, and substituted a false stone for
the real one. But after this last replacement, the stone assumes its
final hue of white, and thus the baronet is led to think that two
stones have been substituted by Ul-Jabal for his own invaluable gem.
All this while the gem was lying serenely in its place in the chalice.
And thus it came to pass that in the Manor-house of Saul there arose a
somewhat considerable Ado about Nothing.'

For a moment Zaleski paused; then, turning round and laying his hand on
the brown forehead of the mummy by his side, he said:

'My friend here could tell you, and he would, a fine tale of the
immensely important part which jewels in all ages have played in human
history, human religions, institutions, ideas. He flourished some five
centuries before the Messiah, was