"Found your diamonds."
"I don't half understand it all," said Horace, "but I see that you fellows have acted like good friends. We can't get in the cabin, you say? Well, you've a camp somewhere, haven't you?"
They started for the camp in the snow, and on the way Fred gave his brother a somewhat incoherent account of what had taken place.
"You fellows certainly have acted like friends to me—like brothers, rather!" said Horace. "I'll never forget it, boys!"
And he shook hands with them all round.
"Not a bit!" said Maurice, in embarrassment. "We were hoping that you'd let us in on the ground floor of a diamond mine. Fred says there was a whole bagful of diamonds that you had hidden in the cabin. What do you suppose they're worth?"
"If they're all diamonds, perhaps a hundred thousand dollars," replied Horace.
"Gracious!" gasped Maurice, and said no more.
But Fred's attention had been fixed on the pack that his brother carried.
"What have you there, Horace?" he asked.