Choose ye, my people; upon you is the vow.' By this time we were all flat on our faces, and a great cry of assent went up.

I lifted my head as much as I dared to see what would happen next.
The priest raised the necklace till it shone above his head like a halo of blood.

I have never seen such a jewel, and I think there has never been another such on earth.

Later I was to have the handling of it, and could examine it closely, though now I had only a glimpse.

There were fifty-five rubies in it, the largest as big as a pigeon's egg, and the least not smaller than my thumbnail.