"I slipped it into my breast-pocket," said Walker promptly, "and rowed back to Medmenham, as you saw. On arriving, I placed it for safety in the drawer of my dressing-table. Then, later, as I explained at breakfast, I came down to see Lesbia and was assaulted by an unknown man."
"Did you show the cross to anyone, say to Jenny?"
"No. And if I had shown it to Jenny, it would not have mattered. You do not suspect an honest girl like her, I presume."
"Honest girls may yield to the temptation of stealing such a fine ornament as the cross," said Hale drily. "However, it may set your mind at rest if I say that I don't suspect Jenny. Had she stolen the cross, she would not have had the imagination to upset the room and leave the window open, so as to suggest burglary. But think again, Walker; did you show the cross to anyone after leaving this garden?"
"No," said George positively, "I certainly did not, that is, not voluntarily."
"Ah! then some one else did see it," said Hale, with satisfaction and with marked eagerness. "Come, man, speak up."
"I had almost forgotten," said Walker slowly. "Perhaps the blow on my head made me forget; but I remember now."
"Remember what?" asked Lesbia, as eager as her father.
"That those gipsies saw the cross."
"Gipsies?" Hale and his daughter glanced at one another.