"Unusual perhaps, but not dangerous. When he came back from Baghdad this time he brought with him a funny kind of a thing, something . . . well, something like a crown and something ... something . . ."

"Something not," said Lord Arglay. "Quite. Well?"

"Made of gold," Reginald went on, "with a stone-that size ... in the middle. Well, so he asked me over to help him experiment, and there was a man from the Persian Embassy there too, who said it was what Sir Giles thought it was-at least, he'd bought it as beig-but that doesn't matter. Well now, this thing-I know you won't believe it-it sounds so silly; only you know I did it. Not Sir Giles-he said he wanted to observe, but I did. The Persian fellow was rather upset about it, at least not upset, but a bit high in the air, you know. Rather frosty. But I'm bound to say he met us quite fairly, said he was perfectly willing to admit that we had it, and to make it clear to us what it was; only he must have it back. But that would have been too silly."

As Mr. Montague paused for a moment Lord Arglay looked at Chloe. "It's a fact I've continually observed in the witness box," he said abstractedly, "that nine people out of ten, off their own subject, are incapable of lucidity, whereas on their own subject they can be as direct as a straight line before Einstein. I had a fellow once who couldn't put three words together sanely; we were all hopeless, till counsel got him on his own business-which happened to be statistics of the development of industry in the Central American Republics; and then for about five minutes I understood exactly what had been happening there for the last seventy years. Curious. You and I are either silent or lucid. Yes, Reginald' Never mind me, I've often been meaning to tell Miss Burnett that, and it just came into my mind. Yes?"

"O he was lucid enough," Reginald said. "Well it seems this thing was supposed to be the crown of King Suleiman, but of course as to that I can't say. But I can tell you this." He pointed a fork at the Chief justice. "I put that thing on my head- " Chloe gave a small gasp-"and I willed myself to be back in my rooms in Rowland Street, and there I was." He stopped.

Lord Arglay and Chloe were both staring at him. "There!" he repeated. "And then I willed myself back at Ealing, and there I was."

Chloe went on staring.