That was exactly what Patsy wanted."I can't stand the suspense of this thing，"she whispered to Uncle John，"and if that man wants any information about these pearls I propose we give it to him.In that way he will soon discover he is wrong in suspecting the identity of Jack Andrews and A.Jones."Mr.Merrick nodded absently and went to his corner for a smoke.Arthur soon after joined him，while Aunt Jane took her bevya of girls to another part of the loge.
"Le Drieux will be here presently，"said Uncle John to young Weldon.
"Oh，the fellow with the book.Why，sir ？"
"He's a detective，I think.Anyhow，he is shadowing Jones，whom he suspects is a thief."He then told Arthur frankly of his former conversation with Le Drieux，and of the puzzling photograph.
"It really resembles the boy，"he admitted，with a frown of perplexity，"yet at the same time I realized the whole thing was absurd.Neither Patsy nor I can believe that Jones is the man who robbed an Austrian countessa.It's preposterousb ！And let me say right now，Arthur，that I'm going to stand by this young fellow，with all my influence，in case those hounds try to make him trouble."Arthur did not reply at once.He puffed his cigar silently while he revolved the startling accusation in his mind.
"Both you and Patsy are staunch friends，"he observed，after a while，"and I have noticed that your intuition as regards character is seldom at fault.But I advise you，in this instance，not to be hasty，for—""I know；you are going to refer to those pearls.""Naturally.If I don't，Le Drieux will，as you haveyourself prophesied.Pearls—especially such pearls as these—are rare and easy to recognize.The world does not contain many black—pearls，for instance，such as that you are wearing.
An expert—a man with a photograph that strongly resembles young Jones—is tracing some stolen pearls of great value—a collection，I think you said.We ？nd Jones，a man seemingly unknown here，giving away a number of wonderful pearls that are worthy a place in any collection.Admit it is curious，Uncle John.It may be all a coincidence，of course；but how do you account for it，sir ？""Jones has an island in the South Seas，a locality where most of the world's famous pearls have been found.""Sangoa ？""Yes.""It is not on any map.This man，Le Drieux，positively stated that there is no such island，did he not ？"Uncle John rubbed his chin，a gesture that showed he was disturbed.
"He was not positive.He said he thought there was no such island.""Well，sir？""If Jones could lie about his island，he would be capable of the theft of those pearls，"admitted Mr.Merrick reluctantly.
"That is conclusive，sir."
"But he isn't capable of the theft.Le Drieux states that Jack Andrews is a society swell，an all—around con？dence man，and a gambler.Jones is a diffident and retiring，but a very manly young fellow，who loves quiet and seems to have no bad habits.You can't connect the two in any possible way."Again Arthur took time to consider.
"I have no desire to suspect Jones unjustly，"he said."In fact，I have been inclined to like the fellow.And yet—his quaint stories and his foolish expenditures have made me suspicious from the ？rst.You have scarcely done justice to his character in your deion，sir.To us he appears dif？dent，retiring，and rather weak，in a way，while in his intercourse a with Goldstein he shows a mailed fistb.He can be hard as nails，on occasion，as we know，and at times he displays a surprising knowledge of the world and its ways—for one who has been brought up on an out—of—the—way island.What do we know about him，anyway？He tells a tale no one can disprove，for the South Seas are full of small islands，some of which are probably unrecorded on the charts.All this might possibly be explained by remembering that a man like Jack Andrews is undoubtedly a clever actor.""Exactly！"said a jubilantc voice behind them，and Mr.
Isidore Le Drieux stepped forward and calmly drew up a chair，in which he seated himself."You will pardon me，gentlemen，for eavesdroppingd，but I was curious to know what you thought of this remarkable young man who calls himself 'A.Jones.'"Arthur faced the intruder with a frown.He objected tobeing startled in this manner."You are a detective？"he asked."Oh，scarcely that，sir，"Le Drieux replied in a deprecatingway."My printed card indicates that I am a merchant，but in truth I am a special agent，employed by the largest pearl and gem dealers in the world，a ？rm with branches in every large European and American city.My name is Le Drieux，sir，at your service，"and with a ？ourish he presented his card.
The young rancher preferred to study the man's face.
