"Owing to gross mismanagement somewhere, the two natives escaped from custody, and it was midnight before they were again apprehended—one of them at Dorton, in a state of collapse from fear and cold; the other at Lingfield, defiant, but suffering from a sprained ankle. They will be brought up to-morrow at the Dorton Petty Sessions.
"Scarcely had Lord Illingworth and his guests retired to rest after an exciting evening than they were again alarmed, this time by an outbreak of fire in the Temple room. Its cause is unknown, but the flames, assisted by a high wind, spread with extraordinary rapidity, in spite of the prompt measures taken by the Hall fire brigade. Engines quickly arrived from Lingfield and Dorton, but the supply of water was totally inadequate, and it soon became evident that the whole structure was doomed. At the moment of telegraphing, the fire was raging furiously, but all sleeping in the house had been rescued without injury.
"In one night Lord Illingworth has lost his great family jewel and his ancestral seat. The 'Luck of the Illingworths' seems to have deserted him.
"It is a remarkable coincidence that a fire consumed the Hindu Temple of Agni the night that the Pearl was taken from it by Major Illingworth in 1803.
"Agni is the Hindu God of Fire."
"Thank Heaven, Mary's safe!" ejaculated Travers. "I hope she hasn't had a great fright." Then, after a pause, "And Ramma Lal caught, after all! He deserved a better fate. What an uncommon good thing I got the Pearl! If I hadn't taken it, the Indians would have been well on the way to Bombay with it by now, and if neither of us had taken it, the stone might have been burnt up. Would it, though? There mightn't have been a fire at all. Rummy notion that Agni should blaze the whole show in revenge for my desecration! It shan't interfere with my feelings of satisfaction. I'm a public benefactor—an Illingworth benefactor, anyway. I shall explain this to my lord at an early date. Hullo, what's this? A lawyer's letter. I can tell 'em by the smell. What's he threatenin' this time?"
But it wasn't a threat. It was simply an intimation that under the will of Colonel Thomas Archer, a distant relative lately deceased, he, Danby Travers, succeeded to the whole estate, a bequest made "on account of intrepidity shown in the recent Iráwadi campaign." The income therefrom, the solicitor added, was estimated at about £3,000 per annum, and he would be pleased to have an expression of Mr. Danby Travers's wishes with respect to the same.
£3,000 a year! Travers jumped out of bed and executed a series of gyrations. £3,000 a year! That meant Mary. But did it? It was a fortune to him, but how would Lord Illingworth view it? Well, if he didn't like it he needn't. Mary and he were now independent of everybody.
He made his way to the Burglars' meeting in a blur of happiness. He was rather late. Other men were there already, and they one and all congratulated him.
"Aren't you rather premature?" he asked. "You haven't seen the Pearl yet."