please.'

"'But--' he began.

"'We won't have any butting, your Grace,' said I. 'I'll give you the
watch, and you needn't mind the 200 pounds; and you must give me the
tiara, or I'll accompany you forthwith to the police, and have a
search made of your hat. It won't pay you to defy me. Give it up.'

"He gave up the hat at once, and, as I suspected, there lay the
tiara, snugly stowed away behind the head-band.

"'You are a great fellow,' said I, as I held the tiara up to the
light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.

"'I beg you'll not expose me,' he moaned. 'I was driven to it by
necessity.'

"'Not I,' I replied. 'As long as you play fair it will be all right.
I'm not going to keep this thing. I'm not married, and so have no
use for such a trifle; but what I do intend is simply to wait until
your wife retains me to find it, and then I'll find it and get the
reward. If you keep perfectly still, I'll have it found in such a
fashion that you'll never be suspected. If, on the other hand, you
say a word about to-night's events, I'll hand you over to the
police.'

"'Humph!' he said. 'You couldn't prove a case against me.'

"'I can prove any case against anybody,' I retorted. 'If you don't