Page 545 of 657

"When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave

so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had

been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how

terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I

determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always

carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might

never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a

cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel

with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs

and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room.