if he is not legally responsible, though the lawyers think he is not.
Anyhow, there is going to be a meeting of the creditors to-morrow."

"And what do you think they will do?"

"Oh, they will, most probably, let him go on for the present; but, of
course, if he is made accountable for the diamonds there will be nothing
for it but to 'go through the hoop,' as the sporting financier
expresses it."

"The diamonds were of considerable value, then?"

"From twenty-five to thirty thousand pounds' worth vanished with that
parcel."

I whistled. This was a much bigger affair than I had imagined, and I was
wondering if Thorndyke had realised the magnitude of the robbery, when
we arrived at the police court.

"I suppose our friends have gone inside," said Walter. "They must have
got here before us."

This supposition was confirmed by a constable of whom we made inquiry,
and who directed us to the entrance to the court. Passing down a passage
and elbowing our way through the throng of idlers, we made for the
solicitor's box, where we had barely taken our seats when the case was
called.

Unspeakably dreary and depressing were the brief proceedings that
followed, and dreadfully suggestive of the helplessness of even an