New Arabian Nights

Story of the Young Man in Holy Order

The Reverend Mr. Simon Rolles had distinguished himself in the

Moral Sciences, and was more than usually proficient in the study

of Divinity. His essay "On the Christian Doctrine of the Social

Obligations" obtained for him, at the moment of its production, a

certain celebrity in the University of Oxford; and it was

understood in clerical and learned circles that young Mr. Rolles

had in contemplation a considerable work - a folio, it was said -

on the authority of the Fathers of the Church. These attainments,

these ambitious designs, however, were far from helping him to any

preferment; and he was still in quest of his first curacy when a

chance ramble in that part of London, the peaceful and rich aspect

of the garden, a desire for solitude and study, and the cheapness

of the lodging, led him to take up his abode with Mr. Raeburn, the

nurseryman of Stockdove Lane.

It was his habit every afternoon, after he had worked seven or

eight hours on St. Ambrose or St. Chrysostom, to walk for a while

in meditation among the roses. And this was usually one of the

most productive moments of his day. But even a sincere appetite

for thought, and the excitement of grave problems awaiting

solution, are not always sufficient to preserve the mind of the

philosopher against the petty shocks and contacts of the world.

And when Mr. Rolles found General Vandeleur's secretary, ragged and

bleeding, in the company of his landlord; when he saw both change

colour and seek to avoid his questions; and, above all, when the

former denied his own identity with the most unmoved assurance, he

speedily forgot the Saints and Fathers in the vulgar interest of

curiosity.

"I cannot be mistaken," thought he. "That is Mr. Hartley beyond a

doubt. How comes he in such a pickle? why does he deny his name?

and what can be his business with that black-looking ruffian, my

landlord?"

As he was thus reflecting, another peculiar circumstance attracted

his attention. The face of Mr. Raeburn appeared at a low window

next the door; and, as chance directed, his eyes met those of Mr.

Rolles. The nurseryman seemed disconcerted, and even alarmed; and

immediately after the blind of the apartment was pulled sharply

down.

"This may all be very well," reflected Mr. Rolles; "it may be all

excellently well; but I confess freely that I do not think so.

Suspicious, underhand, untruthful, fearful of observation - I

believe upon my soul," he thought, "the pair are plotting some

disgraceful action."

The detective that there is in all of us awoke and became clamant

in the bosom of Mr. Rolles; and with a brisk, eager step, that bore

no resemblance to his usual gait, he proceeded to make the circuit

of the garden. When he came to the scene of Harry's escalade, his

eye was at once arrested by a broken rosebush and marks of

trampling on the mould. He looked up, and saw scratches on the

brick, and a rag of trouser floating from a broken bottle. This,

then, was the mode of entrance chosen by Mr. Raeburn's particular

friend! It was thus that General Vandeleur's secretary came to

admire a flower-garden! The young clergyman whistled softly to

himself as he stooped to examine the ground. He could make out

where Harry had landed from his perilous leap; he recognised the

flat foot of Mr. Raeburn where it had sunk deeply in the soil as he

pulled up the Secretary by the collar; nay, on a closer inspection,

he seemed to distinguish the marks of groping fingers, as though

something had been spilt abroad and eagerly collected.

"Upon my word," he thought, "the thing grows vastly interesting."

And just then he caught sight of something almost entirely buried

in the earth. In an instant he had disinterred a dainty morocco

case, ornamented and clasped in gilt. It had been trodden heavily

underfoot, and thus escaped the hurried search of Mr. Raeburn. Mr.

Rolles opened the case, and drew a long breath of almost horrified

astonishment; for there lay before him, in a cradle of green

velvet, a diamond of prodigious magnitude and of the finest water.

It was of the bigness of a duck's egg; beautifully shaped, and

without a flaw; and as the sun shone upon it, it gave forth a

lustre like that of electricity, and seemed to burn in his hand

with a thousand internal fires.

He knew little of precious stones; but the Rajah's Diamond was a

wonder that explained itself; a village child, if he found it,

would run screaming for the nearest cottage; and a savage would

prostrate himself in adoration before so imposing a fetish. The

beauty of the stone flattered the young clergyman's eyes; the

thought of its incalculable value overpowered his intellect. He

knew that what he held in his hand was worth more than many years'

purchase of an archiepiscopal see; that it would build cathedrals

more stately than Ely or Cologne; that he who possessed it was set

free for ever from the primal curse, and might follow his own

inclinations without concern or hurry, without let or hindrance.

And as he suddenly turned it, the rays leaped forth again with

renewed brilliancy, and seemed to pierce his very heart.

Decisive actions are often taken in a moment and without any

conscious deliverance from the rational parts of man. So it was

now with Mr. Rolles. He glanced hurriedly round; beheld, like Mr.

Raeburn before him, nothing but the sunlit flower-garden, the tall

tree-tops, and the house with blinded windows; and in a trice he

had shut the case, thrust it into his pocket, and was hastening to

his study with the speed of guilt.

The Reverend Simon Rolles had stolen the Rajah's Diamond.

Early in the afternoon the police arrived with Harry Hartley. The

nurseryman, who was beside himself with terror, readily discovered

his hoard; and the jewels were identified and inventoried in the

presence of the Secretary. As for Mr. Rolles, he showed himself in

a most obliging temper, communicated what he knew with freedom, and

professed regret that he could do no more to help the officers in

their duty.

"Still," he added, "I suppose your business is nearly at an end."

"By no means," replied the man from Scotland Yard; and he narrated

the second robbery of which Harry had been the immediate victim,

and gave the young clergyman a description of the more important

jewels that were still not found, dilating particularly on the

Rajah's Diamond.

"It must be worth a fortune," observed Mr. Rolles.

"Ten fortunes - twenty fortunes," cried the officer.

"The more it is worth," remarked Simon shrewdly, "the more

difficult it must be to sell. Such a thing has a physiognomy not

to be disguised, and I should fancy a man might as easily negotiate

St. Paul's Cathedral."

"Oh, truly!" said the officer; "but if the thief be a man of any

intelligence, he will cut it into three or four, and there will be

still enough to make him rich."

"Thank you," said the clergyman. "You cannot imagine how much your

conversation interests me."

Whereupon the functionary admitted that they knew many strange

things in his profession, and immediately after took his leave.

Mr. Rolles regained his apartment. It seemed smaller and barer

than usual; the materials for his great work had never presented so

little interest; and he looked upon his library with the eye of

scorn. He took down, volume by volume, several Fathers of the

Church, and glanced them through; but they contained nothing to his

purpose.

"These old gentlemen," thought he, "are no doubt very valuable

writers, but they seem to me conspicuously ignorant of life. Here

am I, with learning enough to be a Bishop, and I positively do not

know how to dispose of a stolen diamond. I glean a hint from a

common policeman, and, with all my folios, I cannot so much as put

it into execution. This inspires me with very low ideas of

University training."

Herewith he kicked over his book-shelf and, putting on his hat,

hastened from the house to the club of which he was a member. In

such a place of mundane resort he hoped to find some man of good

counsel and a shrewd experience in life. In the reading-room he

saw many of the country clergy and an Archdeacon; there were three

journalists and a writer upon the Higher Metaphysic, playing pool;

and at dinner only the raff of ordinary club frequenters showed

their commonplace and obliterated countenances. None of these,

thought Mr. Rolles, would know more on dangerous topics than he

knew himself; none of them were fit to give him guidance in his

present strait. At length in the smoking-room, up many weary

stairs, he hit upon a gentleman of somewhat portly build and

dressed with conspicuous plainness. He was smoking a cigar and

reading the FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW; his face was singularly free from

all sign of preoccupation or fatigue; and there was something in

his air which seemed to invite confidence and to expect submission.

The more the young clergyman scrutinised his features, the more he

was convinced that he had fallen on one capable of giving pertinent

advice.

"Sir," said he, "you will excuse my abruptness; but I judge you

from your appearance to be pre-eminently a man of the world."

"I have indeed considerable claims to that distinction," replied

the stranger, laying aside his magazine with a look of mingled

amusement and surprise.

"I, sir," continued the Curate, "am a recluse, a student, a

creature of ink-bottles and patristic folios. A recent event has

brought my folly vividly before my eyes, and I desire to instruct

myself in life. By life," he added, "I do not mean Thackeray's

novels; but the crimes and secret possibilities of our society, and

the principles of wise conduct among exceptional events. I am a

patient reader; can the thing be learnt in books?"

"You put me in a difficulty," said the stranger. "I confess I have

no great notion of the use of books, except to amuse a railway

journey; although, I believe, there are some very exact treatises

on astronomy, the use of the globes, agriculture, and the art of

making paper flowers. Upon the less apparent provinces of life I

fear you will find nothing truthful. Yet stay," he added, "have

you read Gaboriau?"

Mr. Rolles admitted he had never even heard the name.

"You may gather some notions from Gaboriau," resumed the stranger.

"He is at least suggestive; and as he is an author much studied by

Prince Bismarck, you will, at the worst, lose your time in good

society."

"Sir," said the Curate, "I am infinitely obliged by your

politeness."

"You have already more than repaid me," returned the other.

"How?" inquired Simon.

"By the novelty of your request," replied the gentleman; and with a

polite gesture, as though to ask permission, he resumed the study

of the FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW.

On his way home Mr. Rolles purchased a work on precious stones and

several of Gaboriau's novels. These last he eagerly skimmed until

an advanced hour in the morning; but although they introduced him

to many new ideas, he could nowhere discover what to do with a

stolen diamond. He was annoyed, moreover, to find the information

scattered amongst romantic story-telling, instead of soberly set

forth after the manner of a manual; and he concluded that, even if

the writer had thought much upon these subjects, he was totally

lacking in educational method. For the character and attainments

of Lecoq, however, he was unable to contain his admiration.

"He was truly a great creature," ruminated Mr. Rolles. "He knew

the world as I know Paley's Evidences. There was nothing that he

could not carry to a termination with his own hand, and against the

largest odds. Heavens!" he broke out suddenly, "is not this the

lesson? Must I not learn to cut diamonds for myself?"

It seemed to him as if he had sailed at once out of his

perplexities; he remembered that he knew a jeweller, one B.

Macculloch, in Edinburgh, who would be glad to put him in the way

of the necessary training; a few months, perhaps a few years, of

sordid toil, and he would be sufficiently expert to divide and

sufficiently cunning to dispose with advantage of the Rajah's

Diamond. That done, he might return to pursue his researches at

leisure, a wealthy and luxurious student, envied and respected by

all. Golden visions attended him through his slumber, and he awoke

refreshed and light-hearted with the morning sun.

Mr. Raeburn's house was on that day to be closed by the police, and

this afforded a pretext for his departure. He cheerfully prepared

his baggage, transported it to King's Cross, where he left it in

the cloak-room, and returned to the club to while away the

afternoon and dine.

"If you dine here to-day, Rolles," observed an acquaintance, "you

may see two of the most remarkable men in England - Prince Florizel

of Bohemia, and old Jack Vandeleur."

"I have heard of the Prince," replied Mr. Rolles; "and General

Vandeleur I have even met in society."

"General Vandeleur is an ass!" returned the other. "This is his

brother John, the biggest adventurer, the best judge of precious

stones, and one of the most acute diplomatists in Europe. Have you

never heard of his duel with the Duc de Val d'Orge? of his exploits

and atrocities when he was Dictator of Paraguay? of his dexterity

in recovering Sir Samuel Levi's jewellery? nor of his services in

the Indian Mutiny - services by which the Government profited, but

which the Government dared not recognise? You make me wonder what

we mean by fame, or even by infamy; for Jack Vandeleur has

prodigious claims to both. Run downstairs," he continued, "take a

table near them, and keep your ears open. You will hear some

strange talk, or I am much misled."

"But how shall I know them?" inquired the clergyman.

"Know them!" cried his friend; "why, the Prince is the finest

gentleman in Europe, the only living creature who looks like a

king; and as for Jack Vandeleur, if you can imagine Ulysses at

seventy years of age, and with a sabre-cut across his face, you

have the man before you! Know them, indeed! Why, you could pick

either of them out of a Derby day!"

Rolles eagerly hurried to the dining-room. It was as his friend

had asserted; it was impossible to mistake the pair in question.

Old John Vandeleur was of a remarkable force of body, and obviously

broken to the most difficult exercises. He had neither the

carriage of a swordsman, nor of a sailor, nor yet of one much

inured to the saddle; but something made up of all these, and the

result and expression of many different habits and dexterities.

His features were bold and aquiline; his expression arrogant and

predatory; his whole appearance that of a swift, violent,

unscrupulous man of action; and his copious white hair and the deep

sabre-cut that traversed his nose and temple added a note of

savagery to a head already remarkable and menacing in itself.

In his companion, the Prince of Bohemia, Mr. Rolles was astonished

to recognise the gentleman who had recommended him the study of

Gaboriau. Doubtless Prince Florizel, who rarely visited the club,

of which, as of most others, he was an honorary member, had been

waiting for John Vandeleur when Simon accosted him on the previous

evening.

The other diners had modestly retired into the angles of the room,

and left the distinguished pair in a certain isolation, but the

young clergyman was unrestrained by any sentiment of awe, and,

marching boldly up, took his place at the nearest table.

The conversation was, indeed, new to the student's ears. The ex-

Dictator of Paraguay stated many extraordinary experiences in

different quarters of the world; and the Prince supplied a

commentary which, to a man of thought, was even more interesting

than the events themselves. Two forms of experience were thus

brought together and laid before the young clergyman; and he did

not know which to admire the most - the desperate actor or the

skilled expert in life; the man who spoke boldly of his own deeds

and perils, or the man who seemed, like a god, to know all things

and to have suffered nothing. The manner of each aptly fitted with

his part in the discourse. The Dictator indulged in brutalities

alike of speech and gesture; his hand opened and shut and fell

roughly on the table; and his voice was loud and heavy. The

Prince, on the other hand, seemed the very type of urbane docility

and quiet; the least movement, the least inflection, had with him a

weightier significance than all the shouts and pantomime of his

companion; and if ever, as must frequently have been the case, he

described some experience personal to himself, it was so aptly

dissimulated as to pass unnoticed with the rest.

At length the talk wandered on to the late robberies and the

Rajah's Diamond.

"That diamond would be better in the sea," observed Prince

Florizel.

"As a Vandeleur," replied the Dictator, "your Highness may imagine

my dissent."

"I speak on grounds of public policy," pursued the Prince. "Jewels

so valuable should be reserved for the collection of a Prince or

the treasury of a great nation. To hand them about among the

common sort of men is to set a price on Virtue's head; and if the

Rajah of Kashgar - a Prince, I understand, of great enlightenment -

desired vengeance upon the men of Europe, he could hardly have gone

more efficaciously about his purpose than by sending us this apple

of discord. There is no honesty too robust for such a trial. I

myself, who have many duties and many privileges of my own - I

myself, Mr. Vandeleur, could scarce handle the intoxicating crystal

and be safe. As for you, who are a diamond hunter by taste and

profession, I do not believe there is a crime in the calendar you

would not perpetrate - I do not believe you have a friend in the

world whom you would not eagerly betray - I do not know if you have

a family, but if you have I declare you would sacrifice your

children - and all this for what? Not to be richer, nor to have

more comforts or more respect, but simply to call this diamond

yours for a year or two until you die, and now and again to open a

safe and look at it as one looks at a picture."

"It is true," replied Vandeleur. "I have hunted most things, from

men and women down to mosquitos; I have dived for coral; I have

followed both whales and tigers; and a diamond is the tallest

quarry of the lot. It has beauty and worth; it alone can properly

reward the ardours of the chase. At this moment, as your Highness

may fancy, I am upon the trail; I have a sure knack, a wide

experience; I know every stone of price in my brother's collection

as a shepherd knows his sheep; and I wish I may die if I do not

recover them every one!"

"Sir Thomas Vandeleur will have great cause to thank you," said the

Prince.

"I am not so sure," returned the Dictator, with a laugh. "One of

the Vandeleurs will. Thomas or John - Peter or Paul - we are all

apostles."

"I did not catch your observation," said the Prince with some

disgust.

And at the same moment the waiter informed Mr. Vandeleur that his

cab was at the door.

Mr. Rolles glanced at the clock, and saw that he also must be

moving; and the coincidence struck him sharply and unpleasantly,

for he desired to see no more of the diamond hunter.

Much study having somewhat shaken the young man's nerves, he was in

the habit of travelling in the most luxurious manner; and for the

present journey he had taken a sofa in the sleeping carriage.

"You will be very comfortable," said the guard; "there is no one in

your compartment, and only one old gentleman in the other end."

It was close upon the hour, and the tickets were being examined,

when Mr. Rolles beheld this other fellow-passenger ushered by

several porters into his place; certainly, there was not another

man in the world whom he would not have preferred - for it was old

John Vandeleur, the ex-Dictator.

The sleeping carriages on the Great Northern line were divided into

three compartments - one at each end for travellers, and one in the

centre fitted with the conveniences of a lavatory. A door running

in grooves separated each of the others from the lavatory; but as

there were neither bolts nor locks, the whole suite was practically

common ground.

When Mr. Rolles had studied his position, he perceived himself

without defence. If the Dictator chose to pay him a visit in the

course of the night, he could do no less than receive it; he had no

means of fortification, and lay open to attack as if he had been

lying in the fields. This situation caused him some agony of mind.

He recalled with alarm the boastful statements of his fellow-

traveller across the dining-table, and the professions of

immorality which he had heard him offering to the disgusted Prince.

Some persons, he remembered to have read, are endowed with a

singular quickness of perception for the neighbourhood of precious

metals; through walls and even at considerable distances they are

said to divine the presence of gold. Might it not be the same with

diamonds? he wondered; and if so, who was more likely to enjoy this

transcendental sense than the person who gloried in the appellation

of the Diamond Hunter? From such a man he recognised that he had

everything to fear, and longed eagerly for the arrival of the day.

In the meantime he neglected no precaution, concealed his diamond

in the most internal pocket of a system of great-coats, and

devoutly recommended himself to the care of Providence.

The train pursued its usual even and rapid course; and nearly half

the journey had been accomplished before slumber began to triumph

over uneasiness in the breast of Mr. Rolles. For some time he

resisted its influence; but it grew upon him more and more, and a

little before York he was fain to stretch himself upon one of the

couches and suffer his eyes to close; and almost at the same

instant consciousness deserted the young clergyman. His last

thought was of his terrifying neighbour.

When he awoke it was still pitch dark, except for the flicker of

the veiled lamp; and the continual roaring and oscillation

testified to the unrelaxed velocity of the train. He sat upright

in a panic, for he had been tormented by the most uneasy dreams; it

was some seconds before he recovered his self-command; and even

after he had resumed a recumbent attitude sleep continued to flee

him, and he lay awake with his brain in a state of violent

agitation, and his eyes fixed upon the lavatory door. He pulled

his clerical felt hat over his brow still farther to shield him

from the light; and he adopted the usual expedients, such as

counting a thousand or banishing thought, by which experienced

invalids are accustomed to woo the approach of sleep. In the case

of Mr. Rolles they proved one and all vain; he was harassed by a

dozen different anxieties - the old man in the other end of the

carriage haunted him in the most alarming shapes; and in whatever

attitude he chose to lie the diamond in his pocket occasioned him a

sensible physical distress. It burned, it was too large, it

bruised his ribs; and there were infinitesimal fractions of a

second in which he had half a mind to throw it from the window.

While he was thus lying, a strange incident took place.

The sliding-door into the lavatory stirred a little, and then a

little more, and was finally drawn back for the space of about

twenty inches. The lamp in the lavatory was unshaded, and in the

lighted aperture thus disclosed, Mr. Rolles could see the head of

Mr. Vandeleur in an attitude of deep attention. He was conscious

that the gaze of the Dictator rested intently on his own face; and

the instinct of self-preservation moved him to hold his breath, to

refrain from the least movement, and keeping his eyes lowered, to

watch his visitor from underneath the lashes. After about a

moment, the head was withdrawn and the door of the lavatory

replaced.

The Dictator had not come to attack, but to observe; his action was

not that of a man threatening another, but that of a man who was

himself threatened; if Mr. Rolles was afraid of him, it appeared

that he, in his turn, was not quite easy on the score of Mr.

Rolles. He had come, it would seem, to make sure that his only

fellow-traveller was asleep; and, when satisfied on that point, he

had at once withdrawn.

The clergyman leaped to his feet. The extreme of terror had given

place to a reaction of foolhardy daring. He reflected that the

rattle of the flying train concealed all other sounds, and

determined, come what might, to return the visit he had just

received. Divesting himself of his cloak, which might have

interfered with the freedom of his action, he entered the lavatory

and paused to listen. As he had expected, there was nothing to be

heard above the roar of the train's progress; and laying his hand

on the door at the farther side, he proceeded cautiously to draw it

back for about six inches. Then he stopped, and could not contain

an ejaculation of surprise.

John Vandeleur wore a fur travelling cap with lappets to protect

his ears; and this may have combined with the sound of the express

to keep him in ignorance of what was going forward. It is certain,

at least, that he did not raise his head, but continued without

interruption to pursue his strange employment. Between his feet

stood an open hat-box; in one hand he held the sleeve of his

sealskin great-coat; in the other a formidable knife, with which he

had just slit up the lining of the sleeve. Mr. Rolles had read of

persons carrying money in a belt; and as he had no acquaintance

with any but cricket-belts, he had never been able rightly to

conceive how this was managed. But here was a stranger thing

before his eyes; for John Vandeleur, it appeared, carried diamonds

in the lining of his sleeve; and even as the young clergyman gazed,

he could see one glittering brilliant drop after another into the

hat-box.

He stood riveted to the spot, following this unusual business with

his eyes. The diamonds were, for the most part, small, and not

easily distinguishable either in shape or fire. Suddenly the

Dictator appeared to find a difficulty; he employed both hands and

stooped over his task; but it was not until after considerable

manoeuvring that he extricated a large tiara of diamonds from the

lining, and held it up for some seconds' examination before he

placed it with the others in the hat-box. The tiara was a ray of

light to Mr. Rolles; he immediately recognised it for a part of the

treasure stolen from Harry Hartley by the loiterer. There was no

room for mistake; it was exactly as the detective had described it;

there were the ruby stars, with a great emerald in the centre;

there were the interlacing crescents; and there were the pear-

shaped pendants, each a single stone, which gave a special value to

Lady Vandeleur's tiara.

Mr. Rolles was hugely relieved. The Dictator was as deeply in the

affair as he was; neither could tell tales upon the other. In the

first glow of happiness, the clergyman suffered a deep sigh to

escape him; and as his bosom had become choked and his throat dry

during his previous suspense, the sigh was followed by a cough.

Mr. Vandeleur looked up; his face contracted with the blackest and

most deadly passion; his eyes opened widely, and his under jaw

dropped in an astonishment that was upon the brink of fury. By an

instinctive movement he had covered the hat-box with the coat. For

half a minute the two men stared upon each other in silence. It

was not a long interval, but it sufficed for Mr. Rolles; he was one

of those who think swiftly on dangerous occasions; he decided on a

course of action of a singularly daring nature; and although he

felt he was setting his life upon the hazard, he was the first to

break silence.

"I beg your pardon," said he.

The Dictator shivered slightly, and when he spoke his voice was

hoarse.

"What do you want here?" he asked.

"I take a particular interest in diamonds," replied Mr. Rolles,

with an air of perfect self-possession. "Two connoisseurs should

be acquainted. I have here a trifle of my own which may perhaps

serve for an introduction."

And so saying, he quietly took the case from his pocket, showed the

Rajah's Diamond to the Dictator for an instant, and replaced it in

security.

"It was once your brother's," he added.

John Vandeleur continued to regard him with a look of almost

painful amazement; but he neither spoke nor moved.

"I was pleased to observe," resumed the young man, "that we have

gems from the same collection."

The Dictator's surprise overpowered him.

"I beg your pardon," he said; "I begin to perceive that I am

growing old! I am positively not prepared for little incidents

like this. But set my mind at rest upon one point: do my eyes

deceive me, or are you indeed a parson?"

"I am in holy orders," answered Mr. Rolles.

"Well," cried the other, "as long as I live I will never hear

another word against the cloth!"

"You flatter me," said Mr. Rolles.

"Pardon me," replied Vandeleur; "pardon me, young man. You are no

coward, but it still remains to be seen whether you are not the

worst of fools. Perhaps," he continued, leaning back upon his

seat, "perhaps you would oblige me with a few particulars. I must

suppose you had some object in the stupefying impudence of your

proceedings, and I confess I have a curiosity to know it."

"It is very simple," replied the clergyman; "it proceeds from my

great inexperience of life."

"I shall be glad to be persuaded," answered Vandeleur.

Whereupon Mr. Rolles told him the whole story of his connection

with the Rajah's Diamond, from the time he found it in Raeburn's

garden to the time when he left London in the Flying Scotchman. He

added a brief sketch of his feelings and thoughts during the

journey, and concluded in these words:-

"When I recognised the tiara I knew we were in the same attitude

towards Society, and this inspired me with a hope, which I trust

you will say was not ill-founded, that you might become in some

sense my partner in the difficulties and, of course, the profits of

my situation. To one of your special knowledge and obviously great

experience the negotiation of the diamond would give but little

trouble, while to me it was a matter of impossibility. On the

other part, I judged that I might lose nearly as much by cutting

the diamond, and that not improbably with an unskilful hand, as

might enable me to pay you with proper generosity for your

assistance. The subject was a delicate one to broach; and perhaps

I fell short in delicacy. But I must ask you to remember that for

me the situation was a new one, and I was entirely unacquainted

with the etiquette in use. I believe without vanity that I could

have married or baptized you in a very acceptable manner; but every

man has his own aptitudes, and this sort of bargain was not among

the list of my accomplishments."

"I do not wish to flatter you," replied Vandeleur; "but upon my

word, you have an unusual disposition for a life of crime. You

have more accomplishments than you imagine; and though I have

encountered a number of rogues in different quarters of the world,

I never met with one so unblushing as yourself. Cheer up, Mr.

Rolles, you are in the right profession at last! As for helping

you, you may command me as you will. I have only a day's business

in Edinburgh on a little matter for my brother; and once that is

concluded, I return to Paris, where I usually reside. If you

please, you may accompany me thither. And before the end of a

month I believe I shall have brought your little business to a

satisfactory conclusion."

(At this point, contrary to all the canons of his art, our Arabian

author breaks off the STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN IN HOLY ORDERS. I

regret and condemn such practices; but I must follow my original,

and refer the reader for the conclusion of Mr. Rolles' adventures

to the next number of the cycle, the STORY OF THE HOUSE WITH THE

GREEN BLINDS.)