'I believe thou art right,' he said at length; 'for why should the
figures all be false if there is no hidden trickery in it? If't had been
one or two were wrong, I would have said some priest had copied them in
error; for priests are thriftless folk, and had as lief set a thing down
wrong as right; but with all wrong there is no room for chance. So if he
means it, let us see what 'tis he means. First he says 'tis in a well.
But what well? and the depth he gives of fourscore feet is over-deep for
any well near Moonfleet.'
I was for saying it must be the well at the Manor House, but before the
words left my mouth, remembered there was no well at the manor at all,
for the house was watered by a runnel brook that broke out from the woods
above, and jumping down from stone to stone ran through the manor
gardens, and emptied itself into the Fleet below.
'And now I come to think on it,' Elzevir went on, ''tis more likely that
the well he speaks of was not in these parts at all. For see here, this
Blackboard was a spendthrift, squandering all he had, and would most
surely have squandered the jewel too, could he have laid his hands on it.
And yet 'tis said he did not, therefore I think he must have stowed it
safe in some place where afterwards he could not get at it. For if't had
been near Moonfleet, he would have had it up a hundred times.
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