going to take care of the
stones for me and think it over."

"We must tell the other boys!" exclaimed Fred. "Can you make the
slightest guess at what the stones are worth?"

"Hardly--at present. Maybe a thousand or two. Three of them are too
small to be of any use at all, too small to be cut. The biggest has a
bad flaw in it; it could be used only for cutting up into what they
call 'commercial diamonds,' for watch-movements, and such things. Yes,
give Peter and Maurice the news, certainly, but do it by word of mouth.
Don't 'phone them. You don't know who may be listening.

"And be sure to warn them to keep the whole affair the closest kind of
secret. Wilson & Keith are going to exhibit the stones in their show
window, and you've no idea what an excitement will be stirred up.
We'll all be watched. People will try in every possible way to find
out where we got them. The newspapers will be after the story, and
there'll be all kinds of underhand tricks to trap us into letting out
something. Not that it would do much good, for none of you know enough
to be dangerous, but we don't want a dozen parties going up the
Nottaway River next spring. We 're going there ourselves."

Fred promised secrecy, and presently found that his brother had hardly
exaggerated the sensation caused by the little pile of dull stones on a
square of black velvet in the jeweler's window, labeled "Canadian
Diamonds." The newspapers were unremitting; Horace gave them a brief
and circumspect interview, and thenceforth refused to add another word
to his statement. He was besieged with inquiries. He had all sorts of
proposals made to him by miners and mining firms. One group of
capitalists made him an offer that he thought good enough to consider
for a day, but he ultimately rejected it.

Fred had his share of glory too, as the brother of the diamond finder.
It leaked out that Maurice and Peter had also been on the expedition,
and they were so pestered with inquiries and interviewers that it
seriously interfered with their collegiate work. But by degrees the
excitement wore off, for lack of anything further to feed upon. The
diamonds were withdrawn from exhibition, and the jewelers at last made
up their minds to offer Horace seven hundred dollars for the lot.

It was rather a disappointing figure. Horace took his diamonds to
Montreal and submitted them to two jewel experts there, who advised him
that they were probably worth little m