斯坦顿姐妹听说了琼斯被捕一事，急切地想知道这件事的前因后果。于是，帕齐和贝丝将这件事情的经过详细地告诉了她们。莫德希望见一见律师。在与科尔比律师的讨论中，莫德提出了自己的建议。约翰叔叔认为科尔比应当考虑采纳莫德的建议。莫德究竟想出了什么好办法呢？
The Stanton girls and Mrs.Montrose came in early that afternoon.They had heard rumors of the arrest of Jones and were eager to learn what had occurred.Patsy and Beth followed them to their rooms to give them every known detail and canvassa the situation in all its phases.
"Goldstein has been an angel all afternoon，"said Flo."Hegrinned and caperedb about like a schoolboy and some of us guessed he'd been left a fortune.""He ought to be ashamed of himself."Patsy indignantly asserted."The man admitted to Uncle John that Ajo is the biggest stockholder in the Continental，the president，toboot；yet Goldstein wouldn't lift a finger to help him andpositively refused to obey his request to go to him after he was arrested.""I know about that，"said Aunt Jane，quietly."Goldsteintalked to me about the affair this afternoon and declared his conviction that young Jones is really a pearl thief.He has taken a violent dislike to the boy and is delighted to think his stock will be taken away from him."Maud had silently listened to this dialogue as she dressed for dinner.But now she impetuouslyc broke into the conversation，saying：
"Something de？nite ought to be done for the boy.He needs intelligent assistance.I'm afraid his situation is serious.""That is what Arthur thinks，"said Beth."He says that unless he can furnish proof that he is not Jack Andrews，and that he came by those pearls honestly，he will be shipped to Austria for trial.No one knows what those foreigners will do to him，but he would probably fare badly in their hands.""Such being the logical conclusion，"said Maud，"we must make our ？ght now，at the examination.""Uncle John has engaged a lawyer，"announced Patsy，"and if he proves bright and intelligent he ought to be able to free Ajo.""I'd like to see that lawyer，and take his measure，"answeredMaud，musingly，and her wish was granted soon after they had ？nished dinner.Colby entered the hotel，jauntya as ever，and Arthur met him and introduced him to the girls.
"You must forgive me for coming on a disagreeable mission，"began the young attorneyb，"but I have promised the judge that I would produce all the pearls Mr.Jones gave you，not later than to—morrow morning.He wants them as evidence，and to compare privately with Le Drieux's list，although he will likely have the expert at his elbow.So I can't promise that you will ever get your jewels back again.""Oh.You think，then，that Mr.Jones is guilty？"saidMaud coldly.
"No，indeed；I believe he is innocent.A lawyer should never suspect his client，you know.But to win I must provemy case，and opposed to me is that terrible Le Drieux，who insists he is never mistaken.""Arthur—Mr.Weldon—says you understand pearls as wellas Mr.Le Drieux does，"suggested Patsy.
"I thank him；but he is in error.I chattered to the judge about pearls，it is true，because I found he couldn't tell a pearl from a glass bead；and I believe I even perplexed Le Drieux by hinting at a broad knowledge on the subject which I do not possess.It was all a bit of bluff on my part.But by to—morrow morning this knowledge will be a fact，for I've bought a lot of books on pearls and intend to sit up all night reading them.""That was a clever idea，"said Uncle John，noddingapproval.
"So my mission here this evening is to get the pearls，that I may study them as I read，"continued Colby."Heretofore a I've only seen the things through a plate glass window，or a show case.The success of our defense depends upon our refuting Le Drieux's assertion that the pearls found in Jones'possession are a part of the Countess Ahmberg's collection.He has a full deion of the stolen gemsb and I must be prepared to show that none of the Jones'pearls is on the list.""Can you do that？"asked Maud.
She was gazing seriously into the young man's eyes and this caused him to blush and stammer a little as he replied：
"I—I hope to，Miss Stanton."
"And are you following no other line of defense？"she inquired.