Page:Saxe Holm's Stories, Series Two.djvu/273

Rh Ally turned pale. I observed that she clasped her tourmaline cross in her right hand as she rose from the table.

"Let us go at once," she said, and in a few moments we were in the street, hurrying to keep up with the little Professor, who ran before us. "It is Stonie, Will," said Ally, in a low tone to me. "You need not laugh, I know it is."

Prof. Scherkle had admittance to all parts of the Museum. He led us to a large basement room, where we found workmen busily engaged in unpacking boxes of minerals. Those which had already been taken out were arranged upon a table in the centre of the room.

Ally walked swiftly to the table and pointed directly to a small red box.

There, in a cotton-lined compartment, alone by itself, transparent, flawless, rose red and vivid green, lay "Stonie!" We, who had known the stone so well, could never mistake it. There were other tourmalines in the box; all of them looked like ours; but of none of them could we be sure, except Stonie. It was the only one which had both terminations complete. It was the only one which had the layer of solid white, the "crown."

"King still," was all that Ally said. She was moved to her heart's depths.

We were all deeply stirred at this mysterious incident. All that we could learn from the persons in charge was, that these minerals had been bought