“Let us see what the word is, Alan,” cried Marie much excited, “begin with the letter ‘K.’ That’s a start. Next is a piece of coral—that’s ‘C.’
“Then an opal standing for ‘O,’ another piece of coral——”
“C,” said Marie anxiously, “an amethyst for ‘A,’ an emerald for ‘E’——”
“And a pearl for ‘P.’ The word therefore reads K. C. O. C. A. E. P. And that, my dear, makes nonsense,” finished Fuller with disgust.
“Spell it backwards,” suggested the girl, “we may as well try all ways.”
Almost before she ended, Alan, following her advice, had arrived at the truth swiftly. “Peacock!” he shouted, “Marie, this ring was made by Simon Ferrier.”
“But it isn’t of Indian workmanship,” she protested.
“No; but Ferrier, although he learned from Indian jewellers, was an English workman first of all. Peacock”—he twirled the ring——“Darling, I really and truly believe that we have discovered the secret.”
“Oh Alan! oh Alan!” the girl shrieked in her excitement and ran to the table quickly, “I see your meaning. We take these stones in the tail and—”
“And read them as we have done those of the ring, making the first letter of each stone stand to spell the word.