“I went to Naples, where I had a similar experience.  Then I found it would be well for me, if I did not wish to be arrested as a thief who had robbed a museum, to endeavor to sell my collection as a whole in some other country.  As a professional dealer in gems from a foreign land I would be less liable to suspicion than if I endeavored to peddle my jewels one at a time.  So I determined to go to Madrid and try to sell my collection there.

“When I reached Spain I found the country in a great turmoil.  This was in 1808, when Napoleon was on the point of invading Spain; but as politicians, statesmen, and military men were not in the habit of buying ancient gems, I still hoped that I might be able to transact the business which had brought me to the country.  My collection would be as valuable to a museum then as at any time; for it was not supposed that the French were coming into the country to ravage and destroy the great institutions of learning and art.  I made acquaintances in Madrid, and before long I had an opportunity of exhibiting my collection to a well-known dealer and connoisseur, who was well acquainted with the officers of the Royal Museum.  I thought it would be well to sell them through his agency, even though I paid him a high commission.

“If I should say that this man was astounded as well as delighted when he saw my collection, I should be using very feeble expressions; for, carried away by his enthusiasm, he did not hesitate to say to me that it was the most valuable collection he had ever seen.  Even if the stones had been worthless in themselves, their historic value was very great.  Of course he wanted to know where I had obtained these treasures, and I informed him truthfully that I had traveled far and wide in order to gather them together.  I told him the history of many of them, but entirely omitted mentioning anything which would give a clue to the times and periods when I had come into possession of them.

“This dealer undertook the sale of my jewels.  We arranged them in a handsome box lined with velvet and divided into compartments, and I made a catalogue of them, copied from my ancient parchments—­which would have ruined me had I inadvertently allowed them to be seen.  He put himself into communication with the officers of the museum, and I left the matter entirely in his hands.

“In less than a week I became aware that I was an object of suspicion.  I called on the dealer, but he was not to be seen.  I found that I was shadowed by officers of the law.  I wrote to the dealer, but received no answer.  One evening, when I returned to my lodgings, I found that they had been thoroughly searched.  I became alarmed, and the conviction forced itself upon me that the sooner I should escape from Madrid, the better for me.”

“What!” exclaimed Mrs. Crowder, “and leave thy jewels behind?  Thee certainly did not do that!”