him, I suspect, of Mr. Godfrey's reception in the
rose-garden. But, talk as he might, nine times
out of ten he pitched on the wrong subject, or
he addressed himself to the wrong person;
the end of it being that he offended some, and
puzzled all of them. That foreign training of
his—those French and German and Italian
sides of him, to which I have already alluded,
came out, at my lady's hospitable board, in a
most bewildering manner.

What do you think, for instance, of his discussing
the lengths to which a married woman might
let her admiration go for a man who was not
her husband, and putting it in his clear-headed
witty French way to the maiden aunt of the Vicar
of Frizinghall? What do you think, when
he shifted to the German side, of his telling
the lord of the manor, while that great authority
on cattle was quoting his experience in
the breeding of bulls, that experience,
properly understood, counted for nothing, and that
the proper way to breed bulls was to look deep
into your own mind, evolve out of it the idea of
a perfect bull, and produce him? What do you
say, when our county member, growing hot at
cheese and salad time, about the spread of
democracy in England, burst out as follows: "If
we once lose our ancient safeguards, Mr. Blake,
I beg to ask you, what have we got left?"—
what do you say to Mr. Franklin answering, from
the Italian point of view: "We have got three
things left, sir Love, Music, and Salad"?
He not only terrified the company with such
outbreaks as these, but, when the English side
of him turned up in due course, he lost his
foreign smoothness; and, getting on the
subject of the medical profession, said such
downright things in ridicule of doctors, that he
actually put good-humoured little Mr. Candy
in a rage.

The dispute between them began in Mr.
Franklin being led—I forget how—to
acknowledge that he had latterly slept very
badly at night. Mr. Candy thereupon told him
that his nerves were all out of order, and that
he ought to go through a course of medicine
immediately. Mr. Franklin replied that a course
of medicine, and a course of groping in the
dark, meant, in his estimation, one and the
same thing. Mr. Candy, hitting back smartly,
said that Mr. Franklin himself was, constitutionally
speaking, groping in the dark after
sleep, and that nothing but medicine could help
him to find it. Mr. Franklin, keeping the ball
up on his side, said he had often heard of the
blind leading the blind, and now, for the first
time, he knew what it meant. In this way,
they kept it going briskly, cut and thrust, till
they both of them got hot—Mr. Candy, in
particular, so completely losing his self-control, in
defence of his profession, that my lady was
obliged to interfere, and forbid the dispute to go
on. This necessary act of authority put the last
extinguisher on the spirits of the company.
The talk spurted up again here and there, for a
minute or two at a time; but there was a
miserable lack of life and sparkle in it. The
Devil (or the Diamond) possessed that dinner-
party; and it was a relief to everybody when
my mistress rose, and gave the ladles the
signal to leave the gentlemen over their wine.

I had just ranged the decanters in a row
before old Mr. Ablewhite (who represented the
master of the house), when there came a sound
from the terrace which startled me out of my
company manners on the instant. Mr. Franklin
and I looked at each ot her; it was the sound
of the Indian drum. As I live by bread, here
were the jugglers returning to us with the
return of the Moonstone to the house!

As they rounded the corner of the terrace,
and came in sight, I hobbled out to warn them
off. But, as ill-luck would have it, the two
Bouncers were beforehand with me. They
whizzed out on to the terrace like a couple
of skyrockets, wild to see the Indians exhibit
their tricks. The other ladies followed; the
gentlemen came out on their side. Before you
could say, "Lord bless us!" the rogues were
making their salaams; and the Bouncers were
kissing the pretty little boy.

Mr. Franklin got on one side of Miss Rachel,
and I put myself behind her. If our suspicions
were right, there she stood, innocent of all
knowledge of the truth, showing the Indians
the Diamond in the bosom of her dress!

I can't tell you what tricks they performed,
or how they did it. What with the vexation
about the dinner, and what with the provocation
of the rogues coming back just in the
nick of time to see the jewel with their own
eyes, I own I lost my head. The first thing that
I remember noticing was the sudden appearance
on the scene of the Indian traveller, Mr.
Murthwaite. Skirting the half-circle in which
the gentlefolks stood or sat, he came quietly
behind the jugglers, and spoke to them on a
sudden in the language of their own country.

If he had pricked them with a bayonet, I
doubt if the Indians could have started and
turned on him with a more tigerish quickness
than they did, on hearing the first words that
passed his lips. The next moment, they were
bowing and salaaming to him in their most
polite and snaky way. After a few words in the
unknown tongue had passed on either side, Mr.
Murthwaite withdrew as quietly as he had
approached. The chief Indian, who acted as
interpreter, thereupon wheeled about again
towards the gentlefolks. I noticed that the
fellow's coffee-coloured face had turned grey since
Mr. Murthwaite had spoken to him. He bowed
to my lady, and informed her that the exhibition
was over. The Bouncers, indescribably
disappointed, burst out with a loud "O!" directed
against Mr. Murthwaite for stopping the
performance. The chief Indian laid his hand
humbly on his breast, and said a second time
that the juggling was over. The little boy
went round with the hat. The ladies with-
drew to the drawing-room; and the gentlemen
(excepting Mr. Franklin and Mr. Murthwaite)
returned to their wine. I and the footman