whose seat is on the Antelope, whose arms
embrace the four corners of the earth.

"Brothers, turn your faces to the south, and
come to me in the street of many noises, which
leads down to the muddy river.

"The reason is this.

"My own eyes have seen it."

There the letter ended, without either date
or signature. I handed it back to Mr.
Murthwaite, and owned that this curious specimen
of Hindoo correspondence rather puzzled me.

"I can explain the first sentence to you," he
said; " and the conduct of the Indians
themselves will explain the rest. The god of the
moon is represented, in the Hindoo mythology,
as a four-armed deity, seated on an antelope;
and one of his titles is the regent of the night.
Here, then, to begin with, is something which
looks suspiciously like an indirect reference to
the Moonstone. Now, let us see what the
Indians did, after the prison authorities had
allowed them to receive their letter. On the
very day when they were set free they went
at once to the railway station, and took their
places in the first train that started for London.
We all thought it a pity at Frizinghall that their
proceedings were not privately watched. But,
after Lady Verinder had dismissed the police
officer, and had stopped all further inquiry into
the loss of the Diamond, no one else could
presume to stir in the matter. The Indians were
free to go to London, and to London they
went. What was the next news we heard of
them, Mr. Bruff?"

"They were annoying Mr. Luker," I
answered, " by loitering about his house at
Lambeth."

"Yes."

"In the course of his statement he referred,
if you remember, to a foreign workman in his
employment, whom he had just dismissed on
suspicion of attempted theft, and whom he also
distrusted as possibly acting in collusion with
the Indians who had annoyed him. The
inference is pretty plain, Mr. Bruff, as to who
wrote that letter which puzzled you just now,
and as to which of Mr. Luker's Oriental
treasures the workman had attempted to steal."

The inference (as I hastened to acknowledge)
was too plain to need being pointed out.
I had never doubted that the Moonstone had
found its way into Mr. Luker's hands, at the
time to which Mr, Murthwaite alluded. My
only question had been, How had the Indians
discovered the circumstance? This question
(the most difficult to deal with of all, as I had
thought) had now received its answer, like the
rest. Lawyer as I was, I began to feel that
I might trust Mr. Murthwaite to lead me blindfold
through the last windings of the labyrinth,
along which he had guided me thus far. I
paid him the compliment of telling him this,
and found my little concession very graciously
received.

"You shall give me a piece of information in
your turn before we go on," he said. " Somebody
body must have taken the Moonstone from
Yorkshire to London. And somebody must
have raised money on it, or it would never
have been in Mr. Luker's possession. Has
there been any discovery made of who that
person was?"

"None that I know of."

"There was a story (was there not?) about
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite. I am told he is an
eminent philanthropist— which is decidedly
against him, to begin with."

I heartily agreed in this with Mr. Murthwaite.
At the same time, I felt bound to inform him
(without, it is needless to say, mentioning Miss
Verinder's name) that Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite
had been cleared of all suspicion, on evidence
which I could answer for as entirely beyond
dispute.

"Very well," said Mr. Murthwaite, quietly,
"let us leave it to time to clear the matter up.
In the meanwhile, Mr. Bruff, we must get back
again to the Indians, on your account. Their
journey to London simply ended in their
becoming the victims of another defeat. The loss
of their second chance of seizing the Diamond
is mainly attributable, as I think, to the
cunning and foresight of Mr. Luker— who doesn't
stand at the top of the prosperous and ancient
profession of usury for nothing! By the prompt
dismissal of the man in his employment, he
deprived the Indians of the assistance which their
confederate would have rendered them in getting
into the house. By the prompt transport of
the Moonstone to his banker's, he took the
conspirators by surprise before they were
prepared with a new plan for robbing him. How
the Indians, in this latter case, suspected what
he had done, and how they contrived to possess
themselves of his banker's receipt, are events
too recent to need dwelling on. Let it be
enough to say that they know the
Moonstone to be once more out of their reach;
deposited (under the general description of ' a
valuable gem') in a banker's strong room.
Now, Mr. Bruff, what is their third chance of
seizing the Diamond? and when will it come?"

As the question passed his lips, I penetrated
the motive of the Indian's visit to my office at
last!

"I see it!" I exclaimed. " The Indians
take it for granted, as we do, that the
Moonstone has been pledged; and they want to be
certainly informed of the earliest period at
which the pledge can be redeemed— because
that will be the earliest period at which the
Diamond can be removed from the safe keeping
of the bank!"

"I told you you would find it out for yourself,
Mr. Bruff, if I only gave you a fair chance.
In a year from the time when the Moonstone
was pledged, the Indians will be on the watch
for their third chance. Mr. Luker's own lips
have told them how long they will have  to
wait, and your respectable authority has satisfied
them that Mr. Luker has spoken the truth.
When do we suppose, at a rough guess, that