"Looks like a real diamond."
"It is."
"Where did you get it?"
"Mrs. Vernon gave it to me."
"You are in luck." Frederic Vernon laughed nervously. "By the way, I understand you have been playing the part of a hero."
"Who told you that?"
"The landlady here. She says you saved my aunt and a servant girl when that other boarding house burnt down."
"Well, I did what I could."
"You've lined your nest nicely," went on Frederic Vernon, eyeing Robert in a peculiar manner.
Robert's face flushed.