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ugh Beckwith's two hands held in both of hers. Crossing the room, the stranger rang the bell.
"What are you doing?" cried Mr. Stewart, seeming as startled as if the other had sounded a tocsin of alarm.
Before anyone had a chance even to attempt to reply to the inquiry the door opened and a short, plump, round-faced man came into the room. He was dressed in a suit of dark blue serge; he carried a hard felt hat in his right hand. When he was in he looked at the stranger as he stood at attention. The stranger had placed himself at the table, close to the piece of chamois leather.
"Come here," he said. The new-comer moved briskly towards him. "Do you recognise these?"
He motioned towards the objects which were lying on the piece of chamois leather.
The new-comer placed his hat on the table. He took a jeweller's glass out of his coat pocket. Picking up the objects gingerly with a tiny pair of padded tweezers, he examined each carefully through the lens which he had fitted in his eye. When he had examined them all.
"They are the Romanoff pearls," he said.
"You are sure of that?"
"Certain. I have known them intimately for more than twenty years."
"You hear?" The stranger spoke to Mr. Parker Van Groot. "This gentleman is one of the keepers of the Russian crown jewels. He recognises these pearls as the property of the Russian royal family. Will you give them up at once, or do you prefer that we take the matter into the courts?"
Mr. Van Groot took scarcely a moment to arrive at a decision. His reply was prompt.
"You can have them, right now. I wish I had never heard of the things! Only I should like to point out to you that I've paid for them a million dollars, which is certainly more than they would fetch in the open market."
"You cannot say that. I believe you are in error, but that is by the way. You have been guilty of a criminal action, Mr. Van Groot; you and Mrs. Van Groot and Mr. Bennington between you. You have incited to robbery. H
