"Rosenheim, what are you driving at? Why do you keep harping upon that string? Do you think they'll nab us?"
"They will have a very good try."
"They have tried before and failed."
"They have also tried before and--not failed."
"Fifty thousand pounds! The finest set of jewels in England! insured for fifty thousand pounds--and that's a lot less than they cost--and we've got the insurance policy and the jewels too! Ha! ha! ha! Should we present the policy?"
"We will be generous and return them that. Or, better still, we will keep the policy in case that anything should happen. Holding it, we might make terms with some one. There have such things been done, eh?"
"Fifty thousand pounds! and they cost perhaps a hundred thousand in their time! Did you ever see such a necklace? Those diamonds remind me of fairy tales which I have read--if I were to put the lamp out they'd light the room."
"Yes; but we will not put the lamp out, for fear some of the jewels should be lost--which would be a pity, eh?"
"Did you ever see anything like those diamonds? See how they are flashing in the lamp-light--now look at them!"
Bertie thought that he might as well look too. He peeped through the curtains of the bed to see what was going on. He felt a not unnatural curiosity, for what he had heard had made him open both his eyes and ears. Fifty thousand pounds! The repetition of this sum had a startling effect.