“Has Charley Maynard disposed of his diamonds?” asked Chick.
“He has not,” was the reply. “I wish he would,” added the detective soberly, “for it is not safe to have such a fortune in so small a parcel. The diamonds were followed from Africa. Who knows whether the leaders in the conspiracy have given up hope of securing them? Those sailors never put up that job.”
“I think I understand what your suspicions are regarding the combination between Hartley and the sailors, made in an hour,” said Chick.
“Well,” said Nick, “it is the young man’s own affair. I have advised him, but he only laughs at me.”
“Past experiences should teach him better,” said Chick, and so it would seem.
CHAPTER IX.
MAYNARD’S FOLLY.
But past experiences did not prove of any advantage to Maynard, who still kept the diamonds in his possession, greatly to the surprise of his chum, Henry Townsend.
“Do you mean that you have with you over half a million dollars in diamonds—here on the Bowery at midnight?” asked Townsend, one night as they sat in a popular café in the Bowery.