"Can you be in earnest? Had I heard such a
statement from the lips of any other man than you, I should have
questioned either his sanity or his truth."

"You need not question either one or the other in my case," answered
Platzoff, with a smile. "My assertion is true to the letter. Some
evening when I am less lazy than I am now, you shall see the stone and
examine it for yourself."

"I take it as a great proof of your friendship for me, monsieur," said
Ducie warmly, "that you have chosen to make me the recipient of such a
confidence."

"It _is_ a proof of my friendship," said the Russian. "No one of my
political friends--and I have many that are dear to me, both in England
and abroad--is aware that I have in my possession so inestimable a gem.
But you, sir, are an English gentleman, and my friend for reasons
unconnected with politics; I know that my secret will be safe in your
keeping."

Ducie winced inwardly, but he answered with grave cordiality, "The
event, my dear Platzoff, will prove that your confidence has not been
misplaced."

After this, the Russian went on to tell Ducie that the MS. lost at the
time of the railway accident had reference to the great Diamond; that it
contained secret instructions, addressed to a very dear friend of the
writer, as to the disposal of the Diamond after his, Platzoff's, death;
all of which was quite as well known to Ducie as to the Russian himself;
but the Captain sat with his pipe between his lips, and listened with an
appearance of quiet interest that impressed his host greatly.

That night Ducie's mind was too excited to allow of sleep. He was about
to be shown the great Diamond; but would the mere fact of seeing it
advance him one step towards obtaining possession of it? Would Platzoff,
when showing him the stone, show him also the place where it was
ordinarily kept? His confidence in Ducie would scarcely carry him as far
as that. In any case, it would be something to have seen the Diamond,
and for the rest, Ducie must trust to the chapter of accidents and his
own wits. On one point he was fully determined--to make the Diamond his
own at any cost, if the slightest possible chance of doing so were
afforded him. He was dazzled by the magnitude of the temptation; so much
so, indeed, that he never seemed to realise in his own mind the foulness
of the deed by which alone it could become his property. Had any man
hinted that he was a thief, either in act or intention, he woul