"Oh, if they should be melted before we know who owns them!" gasped Mrs. Nelson.
"So when I found I couldn't sleep, for thinking of them," went on Betty's father, "I made up my mind to hide them in a different place. Perhaps it was foolish of me, but I couldn't help it. I'm as bad as some of the girls, I guess," and he glanced at Betty and her chums, who now, with flushed cheeks and looking pretty enough for any number of boys to gaze upon, even if their hair was a bit awry, stood grouped in the hall.
"So I got up," resumed Mr. Nelson, "took the diamonds from the bureau drawer where I had placed them, and started to take them down cellar. I——"
"Down cellar!" cried Betty. "What a place to hide diamonds—in the cellar!"
"It's the safest all-around place," her father said. "I don't believe any burglars would be able to find them where I was going to put them, and in case of fire the diamonds would be in little danger. Of course they might be buried under a lot of rubbish, but they wouldn't go up in puffs of smoke.
"So I got up as quietly as I could, and took the diamonds, intending to go down cellar with them, hoping I would disturb no one."
"But where did you get the box?" asked Betty. "That was in my room, Daddy."
"I know. I went in and took it out."
"And I never awakened?"
"No."