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 But they must be off before daylight. The fragments of the broken chest were gathered together and the marauders crept stealthily out of the cave, dropping the broken chest into a deep hole.

Their horses were impatiently gnawing the saplings to which they had been tied near the base of the mountain, and mounting, they rode towards Kerhonkson and thence to Kingston.

What to do with the jewels, now that they had them, was a question. Mills was known to be a man in moderate circumstances, and these jewels were priceless diamonds, rubies and many semi-precious stones, fit ransom for an emperor. They dare not exhibit them nor dispose of them, so they must be placed in some safe deposit and that at once.

Arriving at Kingston, they were shown into a room in a hotel in which the attentive servant kindled a fire in the wood stove as the air was chilly. After dinner they sat hugging the stove and talking in low tones. The mine must be secured, and