While the boys argued Clay and Jule started away. It was a bright Spring morning, and the air was clear and invigorating, for Chicago. Jule threw out his chest as they walked along, taking in long breaths.
“I begin to feel well already!” he said. “Oh, I’ll be well before we get to the Gulf of Mexico!”
“What did Dr. Holcomb tell you last night?” asked Clay, curious to know the reason for the visit of the night before to the office of the physician. Jule hesitated an instant, and then turned a pair of merry blue eyes on his companion.
“Don’t you wish you knew?” he asked, provokingly.
“Oh, if it is anything private——” Clay began.
“It is a secret!” acknowledged the boy. “I’m not to tell anyone about it until we get back. I think it jolly to have a secret.”
“I know,” Clay guessed, “he said you were going to get well down on the Amazon. Huh, we knew that before!”
“Guess again,” laughed Jule, as they turned the corner of Madison and Dearborn streets. “I’ll tell you—when we get back! But there is the Boyce building, and here is the name of the lawyer who advertised to give the reward for the return of the diamonds—and no questions asked!”
Lawyer Sharp had just reached his office as the boys entered. He met them with a smile and seemed to consider the return of the stones as a matter of course. He opened his safe and took therefrom a package of banknotes which seemed to have been placed there for that special occasion.
“I’m not to ask any questions, you know,” he said, as Clay tendered the brown leather bag and received the money, “but I would like to know who sent you here with the diamonds. They are worth fifty thousand dollars, I presume you know?”