ll show you how I act towards a thief."

"A thief!" flashed out Denis, imitating his companion's action. "This
is cowardly from you. But no, I will not quarrel. You do not know."

"Not know! Do I not know that in my confidence and belief in our French
guest, whom my father had honoured, I foolishly trusted you with the
secret of the King's private way--and for what? To help you and your
friends to steal."

"No," said Denis gravely; "you don't know that, for it is not true. I
did tell Leoni--"

"Ugh!" ejaculated Carrbroke. "That man's horrid eyes!"

"Yes," said Denis, with a peculiar smile; "that man's horrid eyes--
thoughtlessly, I suppose, of the secret way, when I believed my duty
called; perhaps you would have done the same. But I had nothing to do
with the taking of the gem. Pah! I hated it all through, but as the
King's esquire I had to fulfil my duty to my master. Believe me, I did
not help to take the jewel. I felt that I would rather have died. Will
you not believe me, Carrbroke?" And he held out his hand.

"I feel I cannot," cried Carrbroke.

"Does it take a king to forgive?" said Denis, with a smile. "To say
those words, I forgive you, when there is nothing to forgive?"

"Oh," cried Carrbroke hoarsely, and he looked sharply round to see if
they were observed, before snatching and tightly grasping Denis's
extended hands.

A few minutes later the two lads were walking together arms on
shoulders, in full sunshine of their young nature, that light seeming to
be at the zenith, while the ruddy orange sun itself finishing its daily
rounds was slowly sinking in the west.

"Hah!" cried Denis. "I am glad we are friends again. I know it looked
black against me, and--"

"Oh, don't!" said Carrbroke. "I thought we'd agreed that all that was
buried, never to be dug up again. But look here, we must have it now;
there is one thing I want to know."

"What?" said Denis, with a peculiar mirthful look in his eyes.

"It is very horrible," continued Carrbroke. "I did not mean to ask you,
but I feel I must. Of course your Leoni believed he was doing right for
the sake of France, and to serve his master, but I never understood
where he managed to hide the ruby. Do you know?"

"I did not know till yesterday."

"Ah, did he tell you then?--But no, I will not ask you to break his
confidence."

"It is not to break his confidence, for he did not tell me," replied
Denis. "I learned it from Saint Sim