'This is
European.'
'It came to me from Morocco,' said Jamrach, 'and it was no doubt
taken by a Morocco pirate from some Venetian captive.'
'It is a diamond and ruby cross,' said D'Arcy, 'but mixed with the
rubies there are beryls. I am at this moment describing a beryl in
some verses. The setting of the stones is surely quite peculiar.'
'Yes,' said Jamrach. 'It is the curiosity of the setting more than
the value of the gems which caused it to be sent to me. I have
offered it to the London jewellers, but they will only give me the
market-price of the stones and the gold.'
While he was talking I pulled out of my breast pocket the cross,
which had remained there since I received it from my mother the
evening before.
'They are very much alike,' said Jamrach; 'but the setting of these
stones is more extraordinary than in mine. And of course they are
more than fifty times as valuable.'
D'Arcy turned round to see what we were talking about, when he saw
the cross in my hand, and an expression of something like awe came
over his face.
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