for a few moments there was a dead silence. tempest looked gravely shocked. mrs jeal triumphant, and the curate much disturbed. he had been so certain of leo's innocence that this precise evidence took his breath away. leo was thunderstruck, and passed his hand across his eyes to make sure that he was not dreaming.

"you saw me pawn what i never had in my possession!" he said quietly.

mrs jeal shrugged her plump shoulders. "i can say no more than i know," she said. "of course, i quite expected you would deny my story."

"i have not heard it yet," replied the accused man, slowly; "and i shall be glad to hear it. at the present moment, i declare most solemnly that i never took the cup. i did not even know it was stolen until i returned from london."

"where you had pawned it," finished mrs jeal.

the vicar interposed. he was struck by leo's calmness, which was not that of a guilty person. "i think you had better tell your story, mrs jeal," he said; "then we can hear mr haverleigh."

"i thank you for giving me a fair trial, mr tempest," said leo, quietly, and sat down with his eyes on the face of the woman.

mrs jeal cleared her throat, and in a slow voice began to speak. she rather enjoyed her position, and made the most of it. "but before speaking of what i know, sir," she said, looking at the vicar, "might i ask if it is true that you have offered a reward for the recovery of the cup?"

"i have not done so myself," said tempest, gravely; "but mr pratt, who presented the cup to me, has offered the sum of fifty pounds to whomsoever will give information likely to lead to its recovery. if you know of anything, mrs jeal—"

"i'll get the reward," said the woman, a greedy light in her small eyes. "yes, sir, i do know of something. i went up to battersea, in london, to see my father, who is ill. he is a retired gardener, your reverence, and has invested his savings in a seed shop. my mother is still alive, and she looks after him. they do fairly well out of the shop, and, of course, your reverence, i give them some assistance, as becomes an only child."

"this is not to the point, mrs jeal!"

"i am coming to the point shortly," said the woman, with a look at leo, who made no remark; "but it is necessary that your reverence should understand how it was that i came to see mr haverleigh taking the cup to old penny's pawnshop."

leo could bear it no longer, and started to his feet. "it is absolutely false!" he exclaimed passionately. "i did not pawn the cup. i never had it in my possession. i was never in battersea in my life, and i do not know the name of penny."

"better wait and hear the story, leo," said tempest in a more friendly tone. he was beginning to be impressed by the bearing of the young man. even in the face of mrs jeal's evidence, he thought leo might be innocent. after all, the evidence was circumstantial, and that is not always to be relied upon. "you shall have every justice," he said, patting leo's shoulder.

"i know what i know," said mrs jeal when leo sat down again. "one evening last week i was out late. i had been to get some medicine for my dear father. in barry street there is a pawnshop kept by an old man called penny. i have known it most of my life. as i passed i saw mr haverleigh ahead of me. he did not stop immediately at the shop."

"you saw me!" cried leo, bewildered. "how was i dressed?"

"in a blue serge suit, with a hard, fawn-coloured hat," said mrs jeal, glibly. "over your arm you carried a coat, and under it you had a parcel. it was the cup."

"you are telling a pack of lies!" said leo, angrily. "how did you know the cup was in the parcel?"

"wait and you shall hear," said mrs jeal, tartly. "i do not care about being hurried. you passed the shop; i recognised you at once and wondered what you were doing in so poor a quarter of the town. of course i knew that the cup had been stolen, but i never thought that you had it under your arm. you had a silk muffler round your throat although the evening was warm, and apparently you wished to escape observation. i was determined to find out what you were doing so, i followed you. you went round the block until it grew darker. then you returned to the shop, and entered. i waited on the other side of the road. in half-an-hour you came out again. you had the great-coat on and your hands in your pocket. after looking up and down the street to see if anyone was observing you i saw you walk rapidly to the end. i did not follow as i was anxious to see why you had been to the pawnshop."

"why all this anxiety, mrs jeal?" asked tempest, annoyed.

"well, sir! of course i know that mrs gabriel does not approve of mr haverleigh's behaviour—"

"that has nothing to do with the matter," interposed mr tempest, sternly, and leo gave him a grateful look. "all you have to do is to state facts."

mrs jeal dropped an ironical curtsey. "very good, sir," said she; "but i must say that i thought mrs gabriel had cut off mr haverleigh's allowance and that he was pawning some jewellery to keep himself in bread."

"i never pawned anything in my life," said leo, disgusted at the plain spite of the woman. "go on, mrs jeal. you saw this man penny, no doubt?"

"i did that!" cried the woman, triumphantly. "i have known him for many years. i went into the shop and into his back parlour. on the table i saw the cup. yes, gentlemen, you no doubt are surprised. but it was the very cup i had so often seen on the altar of the chapel."

"it is wholly false!" cried leo, rising. "i never pawned the cup. someone must have impersonated me."

"it was yourself, mr haverleigh," insisted the woman. "i had a talk with old penny, but of course i said nothing about having seen the cup before. i did not mention that i knew you. penny told me that he had given you four hundred for the cup. it was worth much more he said, and he was chuckling over the bargain he had made. i left the cup in his possession and returned home. several times i went to the shop to hear if you had redeemed the cup. but it was still with penny. i then had to attend to my father and gave the matter little thought. but when i returned and heard how you, mr haverleigh, had stolen the cup, it became my duty to let his reverence know what you had done with it. and i hear," added mrs jeal, with a malignant smile, "that your debts have been paid."

"who told you so?" asked raston, who hitherto had been silent.

"mrs gabriel. i went to tell her what mr haverleigh had done. she said that she expected as much, as she had refused to give him the money to pay his debts. so that is all i know. i am prepared to take my oath in a court of law that this is true."

there was a pause. then tempest observed quietly, "if that is all you have to tell, mrs jeal, you can go. i will speak to mr haverleigh."

"but will i not—"

"you will do nothing," interrupted the vicar. "go away and hold your tongue, lest you get into trouble."

"you're going to let him off, i see," said mrs jeal, with a toss of her grey head. "well, i have done my share. good-day, gentlemen," and she sailed out of the room quite satisfied that she had ruined leo.

when the three were alone tempest addressed leo, who sat silently beside the table. "leo," he said sadly, "i do not want you to get into trouble. if you will confess to me that you did what mrs jeal says i will see about getting the cup back and say nothing more about the matter. i will give you money to leave the town."

"i tell you i am innocent!" cried leo passionately. "why do you want me to confess a crime of which i am not guilty? i shall not leave colester. here i stay until my innocence is acknowledged."

"but the evidence against you," urged the vicar, sorely perplexed. "you were seen about the chapel on the night the cup was stolen. your debts are paid, yet mrs gabriel did not give you the money, and you have none of your own. and now mrs jeal says she saw you pawn the sacred vessel."

"i admit that the evidence is strong," said leo, recovering his calmness. "all the same i am guiltless. i was at the chapel on that night. i was to meet sybil since you had forbidden me to meet her."

"please leave my daughter's name out of this," said tempest, an angry spot on each cheek. he was annoyed at the mention of the meeting, but in the presence of raston he controlled himself out of pride.

"i can't leave sybil's name out of it," said leo, sadly. "i would if i could; but she is as anxious as i am that i should recover my good name. i did meet sybil, and she will tell you that i left her at the door of the vicarage before ten o'clock. i therefore could not have stolen the cup. i got the money to pay my debts from frank hale."

"from hale? then he will say as much!" cried the vicar. "this will go far to prove your innocence, leo."

"i don't think hale will help me much," said leo, coldly. "however, we can talk of that later, or you can see hale for yourself, mr tempest. but i declare most solemnly that hale lent me the money. as to pawning the cup, i said before, and i say again, that i did no such thing. i did not take the cup. i was never in battersea, and i do not know the man mrs jeal calls old penny. if you want to have me arrested, mr tempest, you will find me at mr pratt's. far from wishing to run away, i court an investigation."

"leo," stammered the vicar, restlessly, "i do not want to get you into any trouble. if i can help—"

"i am in the deepest trouble," returned leo, "and more will not matter. you can have me arrested if you like. i know that sybil believes me to be innocent, so does pratt. i do not care for anyone else's opinion. i think you are treating me cruelly, mr tempest, and some day you will be sorry that you showed so little charity. i go now, and i shall not see you again until such time as you give evidence against me in court," and with this last bitter speech leo walked out of the room with his head in the air.

the two clergymen looked at one another. they did not know very well what to say. tempest sat down with a sigh. "i do not know what to think."

"i do," said raston, sharply. "notwithstanding the woman's story, i still believe that haverleigh is guiltless. circumstances have so culminated that he appears to be in the wrong. there is a mystery about the whole of this affair, and it seems to me that haverleigh has some enemy."

"that may be so," admitted tempest, struck by this remark. "but what is to be done? i can't have leo arrested. even if he were guilty, which i am now inclined to doubt, i cannot ruin his life."

"what we need," replied the curate, "is some clever man who will get to the bottom of this. if you can spare me for a few days, mr tempest, i will go to london and see marton?"

"marton?" repeated the vicar. "who is marton?"

raston laughed. "such is fame," said he, lightly. "marton is one of the best detectives in england. he was leaving college when i went up, and we met for a few weeks. when i was curate in the battersea slums i met him again, as he has a wide acquaintance with the criminal classes. we renewed our college friendship, and i still write to him. now, with your permission, mr tempest, i will put this case into marton's hands. it is just the kind of mystery he would love to solve."

"the man is a gentleman, i suppose, raston?"

"certainly. he is my friend. i know the pawnshop of old penny. he is a scotsman, if you can grasp the idea of a scotsman keeping a pawnshop. i'll tell marton the whole case, and we can then go to this shop. if possible, we may get back the cup."

"who is to pay four hundred pounds for it?" asked tempest.

"we'll see," replied raston, quietly. "i shall do nothing without marton's advice. have i your permission?"

tempest nodded. "i think it is the best thing you can do. go to london and keep me advised of everything. i should like to know mr marton's opinion of the matter."

"it is probable he'll come down here later on," said the curate; "but in the meantime, mr tempest, do nothing to haverleigh."

"i promise you that," replied the vicar, and the matter being settled in this way, the two men shook hands. afterwards raston went to prepare for his departure.

while this was taking place, leo was talking in the chapel with hale. haverleigh had gone up to see if sybil was about, as he wished to tell her of this new development of the conspiracy against him. leo felt sure by this time that there was a conspiracy, and that hale was concerned in it. he was therefore rather pleased when he saw the cripple walking up the hill before him. leo made up his mind to force the truth out of him, and hurried on so as to catch him. hale heard his steps, and turned with a queer smile on his face. he was not at all abashed by the presence of the man to whom he had told a lie, but, on the contrary, welcomed him in the most friendly manner. haverleigh was irritated by this false behaviour. "either you think me innocent, and wish to be my friend," he said, "or you believe that i am guilty and have some reason to be feigning good fellowship. i must have some understanding with you, hale. come into the chapel. we will not be disturbed there as it is mid-day and everyone is at dinner," and leo, without waiting for a reply, entered the door.

the chapel was empty; even sybil was not in sight. hearing the halting steps of the cripple behind him, leo led the way into the crusaders' chapel, where he sat down beside one of the tombs. hale paused before him and looked down in a whimsical manner. "you have chosen a strange place," he said, looking round.

"it is a sacred place," replied leo, coolly; "and you may be the less inclined to tell lies. i presume you have some religion."

"how dare you say i tell lies?" cried the baronet, scowling.

"because i have had some experience of your capability in that direction. and now i should like to know what you mean by denying that you lent me the three hundred pounds?"

hale shrugged his unshapely shoulders and sat down with a painful effort, placing his crutch beside him. "you were fool enough to speak to me in the presence of my sister," he said. "i could only say what i did say. now that we are alone i am willing to answer any questions you may put to me."

"you will answer truthfully, i hope?"

"assuredly. it is time we understood one another. go on."

"you lent me three hundred pounds?" said leo, in the form of a query.

"in gold," assented sir frank, coolly.

"why did you lend it to me in gold?"

"a whim of mine."

"i don't think so," said leo, slowly. "you had some scheme in your head. i believe you wanted to deny the loan if you found it convenient."

"you are very clever, haverleigh. that is just what i did want. had i given you a cheque you could have proved the loan. even notes might have shown the truth. but i wanted to be free to act as i pleased, so i went to the trouble of getting gold from the bank."

"then it seems to me that you had this cup stolen by some confederate, and intended to lay the blame on me so as to get me into a trap!"

"indeed, no," protested hale, so loudly that leo believed he was speaking the truth. "the stealing of the cup, and the subsequent blame being thrown on you, was unexpected. but i took advantage of the opportunity. you can prove your innocence only by my help, haverleigh, and i give my evidence only on conditions."

"i was prepared for such a speech," said leo, calmly; "but it won't do, my friend. you must go to tempest and tell him that you gave me three hundred pounds to pay my debts. perhaps then he may disbelieve this ridiculous story of my being a thief."

hale sat up alertly. "then you didn't steal the cup?"

"certainly not. how dare you suggest such a thing? i suspect you know more about the loss of the cup than i do."

the baronet looked down on his crooked leg and smiled ironically. "do you mean to infer that i thrust this misshapen body through that window?"

"no! but you have plenty of money to pay for any rascality."

"i am not so fond of parting with money," said hale, dryly. "i know nothing about the cup. but i really thought you stole it. mrs jeal's tale—"

"ha!" leo started up. "she told you that? why?"

"because she is a woman who is fond of money," said hale, quietly. "knowing that my sister is in love with you, haverleigh, she came to threaten me. she declared that she would proclaim you a thief if i did not pay her. it was her belief that such a course would break my sister's heart."

"and what did you do?"

"i told her i would inform the police if she dared to speak to me in that manner again. i believe she then went to the vicar. but if i come forward, haverleigh, and state that i lent you the money, it will go a long way towards clearing you. of course, i do not understand this pawning business. the woman says she saw you."

"she saw my double, or someone dressed up to resemble me," said leo, vehemently; "but she did not see me. i was never near the shop."

"so you say," said hale, smiling cruelly. "however, you must see that i can help you. i will do so on one condition—no, on two."

"i can guess the two," said leo, looking at his mean face. "you want me to surrender sybil so that you may marry her, and to make your sister my wife? is that not so?"

hale smiled again. "you save me the trouble of an explanation," he said.

"then i absolutely refuse to do what you want, hale. i respect your sister, who is a kind and good-hearted girl; but i do not love her, and not for all the gold in the world would i marry her. on the other hand, nothing will induce me to give up sybil. she shall never become your wife. i wonder you have the impertinence to propose such a thing to me!"

"if you don't do what i ask," said hale, very pale and venomous, "i shall refuse to help you. i shall deny that i lent you the money."

"deny what you please!" leo walked to the door of the chapel. "everything is in your favour, and you can have me arrested if you choose. but i decline to sell my love to buy my safety. good-day, hale," and he marched away.