“It is the carven symbol upon the stone which makes it so interesting. I believe it to be the mark of a fanatical religious sect which at one time was known to exist in India.”
“Not—Zudi worshipers?” Madge questioned.
“Yes,” the jeweler acknowledged, surprised, “the sect is no longer active, to all accounts. It is odd that the pin which years ago doubtlessly belonged to one of the members, should turn up in this country. If the owner is located I should like very much to question him.”
“You may be sure I’ll not leave a stone unturned in attempting to find the person who lost it,” Madge declared. “I think perhaps I know who it was.”
She opened her purse and took out the paper upon which she had made a rough sketch of the symbol used on the Zudi Drum Bowl. She offered it to the jeweler.
“Would you say that the two symbols are alike?” she asked.
“There is a striking similarity. Yes, in my opinion they are the same.”
Madge nodded in satisfaction. She now had all the information that she required for her case. There no longer was any doubt in her mind as to the owner of the jade pin. She was of the opinion that it belonged either to the boatman who had rowed her to The Flora on the day of her arrival at Cheltham Bay, or else to a fellow member of the fanatical Zudi sect.
In only one particular did she feel that her theory fell short. Mr. Dewitt had said that the sect no longer existed, and Enid held the same opinion.
“They both may be mistaken,” she thought. As soon as she reached the yacht she planned to lay all the facts before her chum, confident that she would then see the folly of trying to deal single handed with her father’s abductors.