The dark man was holding the something in his hands in a variety of positions, so that he might get the full effect from different points of view.
"They are not bad, considering. Their value consists in their number, my dear friend. Separate stones of better quality can be found."
"How much do you say we shall get for it?"
"That remains to be seen. If you ask me how much it cost I should say, probably, altogether, twenty thousand pounds."
Twenty thousand pounds! The dark man was holding in his hand something which cost twenty thousand pounds. Curiosity was too much for Bertie's discretion. The magnitude of the sum had so startling an effect on his bump of inquisitiveness that before he knew it he was trying his best to see what surprising thing it was which had cost twenty thousand pounds. Half-unconsciously he quitted the security of the bed, and standing in his shirt bare-legged on the floor he strained his eyes to see.
Just then the dark man moved into such a position that the unexpected spectator was yet unable to see what it was he held. It was aggravating, but what followed was rather more aggravating still.
"Fancy wearing a thing like that! I wonder how I should look with twenty thousand pounds worth of diamonds round my neck."
He put his hand up to his neck, clasping round it what seemed to Bertie a line of glittering light. Then he turned, probably with the intention of studying the effect in the looking-glass, and, turning, he saw Bertie.
For a moment there was silence--silence so complete that you could have heard much fainter sounds than the fall of the proverbial pin. The man was apparently thunderstruck, as well he might be. He stared at the figure in the shirt as though it were that of one risen from the dead. As for Bertie, his feet seemed glued to the floor, and his tongue to the roof of his mouth. It suddenly dawned upon him that it would have perhaps been better if he had stayed in bed.
The man was the first to regain his self-possession. It was to be a very long time indeed before Bertie was to be again master of his.
At the sound of his companion's voice, the man on the sofa sprang to his feet as though he had been shot. He gave one quick glance; then, snatching up a revolver which lay upon the table, he fired at the frightened boy.