will not oblige me?"

Sebastian temperately replied, "You are to understand, senor caballero,
that I am at your disposition, but also that I do not yet know what you
wish me to do." Manvers laughed, and the air was clearer.

"A thousand pardons," he said, "a thousand pardons for my stupidity. I
can tell you in two minutes what I want done with this thing." He held
it in the flat of his hand, and looked from it to the jeweller, as he
succinctly explained his wishes.

"I want you," he said, "to encase this cross completely, in thin gold
plates." Conscious of Sebastian's portentous gravity, perhaps of Don
Luis in his dark corner, he showed himself a little self-conscious also
and added, "It's a curious desire of mine, I know, but there's a reason
for it, which is neither here nor there. Make for me then," he went
on, "of thin gold plates, a matrix to hold this cross. It must have a
lid, also, which shall open upon hinges, here--" he indicated the
precise points--"and close with a clasp, here. Let the string also be
encased in gold. I don't know how you will do it--that is a matter for
your skill; but I wish the string to remain where it is, intact, within
a gold covering. This casing should be pliable, so that the cross
could hang, if necessary, round the neck of a person--as it used to
hang. Do I make myself understood?"

The Castilians are not a curious people, but this commission did
undoubtedly interest Sebastian the jeweller. Professionally speaking,
it was a delicate piece of work; humanly, could have but one
explanation. So, at least, he judged.

What Don Luis may have thought of it, there's no telling. If you had
watched him closely you would have seen the pupils of his eyes dilate,
and then contract--just like those of a caged owl, when he becomes
aware of a mouse circling round him.

But while Don Luis could be absorbed in the human problem, it was not
so with his friend. Points of detail engaged him in a series of
suggestions which threatened to be prolonged, and which maddened the
Englishman. Was the outline of the cross to be maintained in the
casing? Undoubtedly it was, otherwise you might as well hang a
card-case round your neck! The hinges, now--might they not better be
here, and here, than there, and there? Manvers was indifferent as to
the hinges. The fastening? Let the fastening be one which could be
snapped-to, and open upon a spring. The chain--ah, there was some
nicety requ