“He and Ike met out West and tried to sell the diamond cross to a fence and got pinched as suspicious characters by the bulls who were making their regular round of the pawnshops.  Ike squealed on Spotty for another job after they give him the third degree, and when Spotty heard of that it made him sore, as it would anybody.  Then when the two bulls who pinched Spotty and Ike tested the diamonds in the cross and found they was phoney—­as they might have guessed coming from a department store—­Spotty was fit to be tied, he was so wild!  So he up and confessed.  Said he knew you wanted him for the job and was sorry he made so much trouble.  To send word to you that he’d come on and stand trial.”

“But, stars and stripes!  I didn’t want him for this little robbery job!” cried the colonel, “I didn’t even know he did it!  I was after him for the murder of Mrs. Darcy, where I thought he got the diamond cross.  And to think the jewels are paste!” and the colonel looked at them sparkling in the electric light as bravely as though they were worth a fortune instead of being what a poor shop girl might wear to a bricklayer’s ball.

“Well, that’s all I know about it,” said Basset.  “Spotty wanted me to tell you he’d confessed, and he’s dead sore on Blue Ike.”

For several seconds the colonel said nothing, and then he shook his head as a dog might on emerging from deep water, and remarked: 

“Well, I’ve got to take another tack, I guess.  Tell Spotty I’ll arrange to have him bailed.  It’ll be easy on a mere theft charge.  But how in thunder am I going to get Darcy off if I haven’t any one to offer—­”

The tinkle of the telephone bell interrupted the colonel’s half-aloud musing.

“Hello,” he said into the transmitter.  “Oh, that you, Jack?  Well, what’s up now?”

For a moment the colonel listened intently, many emotions flashing across his face.  Basset toyed idly with the jeweled cross, which sparkled as bravely as the real stones might have done.

“Yes—­yes,” said the colonel impatiently.  “Go on, Jack!”

And in a few more seconds the colonel added: 

“All right!  I’ll get right after him!  Out toward Pompey you say?  All right, I’ll shadow him!  By the way, Basset is here.  He brought on Spotty Morgan.  Come on over to my room and have a talk with him.  He’ll tell you the yarn—­It’ll surprise you—­I haven’t time.  I’m going to get right out!” and the receiver went on the hook with a bang.

“Anything I can do, Colonel?” asked Basset.  “I’m sorry to have to disappoint you about this cross, but—­”

“Oh, that was my own fault, for taking too much for granted.  I should have asked Grafton more questions, and gotten a description of Mrs. Larch’s ornament.  He never said anything to me about being robbed.”

“Maybe he didn’t count this, it not being worth much,” and Basset flipped the sparkling cross half way across the table.