“Oh, yes, yes! So you did! I have been wondering where I saw you. Well, you didn’t find any more of my diamonds, did you?”
“No,” replied Larry. “Didn’t you get them all back?”
“All of them,” repeated Mr. Reynolds. “I was only joking. Though, to be exact, we did not get all of them back. The thieves kept a valuable heirloom.”
“What was it?”
“It was a ring,” replied Mr. Reynolds, “in the shape of a snake, coiled around three times. For eyes it had two rubies, and in the end of the tail was a diamond. It was not very costly, but I valued it for its associations. It had been in our family for over two hundred years, and I would like very much to have kept it.”
“Then it wasn’t in the box that I dug up?” asked Larry.
“No trace of it, though it was taken with the other things the thieves carried off. By the way, they never found those thieves, did they?”
“No,” replied Larry.
“I suppose one of them took a fancy to my ring, and wore it himself, instead of hiding it with the rest of the booty,” mused Mr. Reynolds. “Well, if you ever should happen to come across it, and you might, for you’re a lucky lad, I’ll pay you five hundred dollars.”
“I’d be glad to find it for you without the reward,” Larry said. “But I’m afraid there’s little hope.”