“How perfectly magnificent!” ejaculated Peggy in an awed voice.
“Wonderful! An old jewel case!” exclaimed Jo Ann, entranced by the beauty before her.
“Gorgeous!” added Florence.
One by one, as though afraid of touching them, the girls picked up the jewels from the floor. Rings set with precious stones—diamonds, rubies, sapphires, opals gorgeous as the sunset—necklaces, earrings, and chains of gold. Queer, antique-looking, all of them.
“Isn’t this the loveliest thing you ever laid your eyes on!” cried Peggy, holding up a filigree necklace of such delicate workmanship that it resembled a piece of fine old lace.
“It’s exquisite,” agreed Florence.
“And look at this ring—isn’t it the most beautiful one you ever saw?” Jo Ann held up a ring that had one large exquisite opal circled by tiny diamonds. “I love opals. The opal’s my birthstone. When my ship comes in—if it ever does—I’ll try to buy me a ring just like this.”
“It is lovely. They all are—the diamonds, rubies, all of them,” added Florence. “They must be very valuable. I wonder why they were hidden here. Oh!” she cried suddenly, an expression of horror passing over her face. “These belong to the church. We can’t take them—that’d be stealing. We must put them right back where we found them this minute.”
“Not I,” said Peggy emphatically.
“What would be the sense of leaving these things hidden for another century or more?” put in Jo Ann quickly.