On the night in question he showed me the silver casket containing
certain of these mementos--mementos which I felt to be almost too
intimate to be shown even to his son.
'And now, Henry,' said he, 'I am going to show you something that no
one else has ever seen since she died--the most sacred possession I
have upon this earth.' He then opened his shirt and his vest, and
showed me lying upon his naked bosom a beautiful jewelled cross of a
considerable size. 'This,' said he, lifting it up, 'is an ancient
Gnostic amulet. It is called the "Moonlight Cross" of the Gnostics. I
gave it to her on the night of our betrothal. She was a Roman
Catholic. It is made of precious stones cut in facets, with rubies
and diamonds and beryls so cunningly set that, when the moonlight
falls on them, the cross flashes almost as brilliantly as when the
sunlight falls on them and is kindled into living fire. These
deep-coloured crimson rubies--almost as clear as diamonds--are not of
the ordinary kind. They are true "Oriental rubies," and the jewellers
would tell you that the mine which produced them has been lost during
several centuries.
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