e that had the loop
with the three sham sapphires!

Carwitchet picked the other up hastily. "So you say this is rubbish?" he
asked, his eyes sparkling wickedly, and an attempt at mortification in
his tone.

"Utter rubbish!" I pronounced, with truth and decision, snapping up the
case and pocketing it. "Lady Carwitchet must have known it."

"Ah, well, it's disappointing, isn't it? Good-by, we shall not meet
again."

I shook hands with him most cordially. "Good-by, Lord Carwitchet. _So_
glad to have met you and your mother. It has been a source of the
_greatest_ pleasure, I assure you."

I have never seen the Carwitchets since. The bishop drove over next day
in rather better spirits. Miss Panton had refused the chaplain.

"It doesn't matter, my lord," I said to him heartily. "We've all been
under some strange misconception. The stone in your possession is the
veritable one. I could swear to that anywhere. The sapphire Lady
Carwitchet wears is only an excellent imitation, and--I have seen it
with my own eyes--is the one bearing Bogaerts's mark, the Greek Beta."

THE OBLONG BOX

EDGAR ALLAN POE

Some years ago I engaged passage from Charleston, S. C., to the city of
New York, in the fine packet-ship _Independence_, Captain Hardy. We were
to sail on the fifteenth of the month (June), weather permitting; and on
the fourteenth I went on board to arrange some matters in my stateroom.

I found that we were to have a great many passengers, including a more
than usual number of ladies. On the list were several of my
acquaintances; and among other names I was rejoiced to see that of Mr.
Cornelius Wyatt, a young artist, for whom I entertained feelings of warm
friendship. He had been, with me, a fellow-student at C---- University,
where we were very much together. He had the ordinary temperament of
genius, and was a compound of misanthropy, sensibility, and enthusiasm.
To these qualities he united the warmest and truest heart which ever
beat in a human bosom.

I observed that his name was carded upon three staterooms: and upon
again referring to the list of passengers I found that he had engaged
passage for himself, wife, and two sisters--his own. The staterooms were
sufficiently roomy, and each had two berths, one above the other. These
berths, to be sure, were so exceedingly narrow as to be insufficient for
more than one person; still, I could not comprehend why there were three
staterooms for these four person