The Moonstone

"I suspected the wrong person, last year," he said: "and I may be

suspecting the wrong person now. Wait to open the envelope, Mr. Blake,

till you have got at the truth. And then compare the name of the guilty

person, with the name that I have written in that sealed letter."

I put the letter into my pocket--and then asked for the Sergeant's

opinion of the measures which we had taken at the bank.

"Very well intended, sir," he answered, "and quite the right thing to

do. But there was another person who ought to have been looked after

besides Mr. Luker."

"The person named in the letter you have just given to me?"

"Yes, Mr. Blake, the person named in the letter. It can't be helped now.

I shall have something to propose to you and Mr. Bruff, sir, when the

time comes. Let's wait, first, and see if the boy has anything to tell

us that is worth hearing."

It was close on ten o'clock, and the boy had not made his appearance.

Sergeant Cuff talked of other matters. He asked after his old friend

Betteredge, and his old enemy the gardener. In a minute more, he would

no doubt have got from this, to the subject of his favourite roses, if

my servant had not interrupted us by announcing that the boy was below.

On being brought into the room, Gooseberry stopped at the threshold

of the door, and looked distrustfully at the stranger who was in my

company. I told the boy to come to me.

"You may speak before this gentleman," I said. "He is here to assist me;

and he knows all that has happened. Sergeant Cuff," I added, "this is

the boy from Mr. Bruff's office."

In our modern system of civilisation, celebrity (no matter of what kind)

is the lever that will move anything. The fame of the great Cuff had

even reached the ears of the small Gooseberry. The boy's ill-fixed

eyes rolled, when I mentioned the illustrious name, till I thought they

really must have dropped on the carpet.

"Come here, my lad," said the Sergeant, "and let's hear what you have got

to tell us."

The notice of the great man--the hero of many a famous story in every

lawyer's office in London--appeared to fascinate the boy. He placed

himself in front of Sergeant Cuff, and put his hands behind him, after

the approved fashion of a neophyte who is examined in his catechism.

"What is your name?" said the Sergeant, beginning with the first

question in the catechism.