For as he lifted it St.George had thought that something glittered.

Without hesitation he caught the old man's arm about the wrist, and turned his hand in his own palm.

In the thin fingers he found a small sealed tube, filled with something that looked like particles of nickel.
"Do you mind telling me what that is ?" asked St.George.
Old Malakh's eyes, liquid and brown and very peaceful, met his own without rebuke.
"Do you mean the gem ?" he asked gently.

"It is a very beautiful ruby." Then St.George saw upon the hand that held the sealed tube a ring of matchless workmanship, set with a great ruby that smouldered in the shadow where they stood.

Olivia looked at St.George with startled eyes.
"He was not wearing this when we first saw him," she said.