Taking a knife with which he was accustomed to eat his dinner, he searched for the spot in the man's leg where he claimed to have hidden the diamond.
It was with very little hope of finding it that he did so.
The whole story seemed like the delirious ravings of a madman. Cutting away the skin, a hard substance fell out, which Jack picked up.
He had been at work in the mines long enough to know what a diamond was.
Holding it to the light, he uttered a cry of surprise, for he saw that he was the possessor of a jewel of the first water and of prodigious size.
Alfonso had not lied to him.
The story was not the invention of a maniac, but a solemn fact.
What should he do with it?
This question could not be decided off-hand, so he slipped it in his pocket, with the reflection that he yet had half the day to think the matter out.
The convicts were only searched at night, before retiring to their quarters.