no, sir, they all ran out at once, as soon as I went down. I had a
light myself."

"What part of the cellar were they in?"

"I couldn't exactly say. They seemed to be all over."

"Well, we'll have a look for--to see if anything is missing," Allen
hastily changed his remarks, for the servants knew nothing about the
diamonds; or, at least, they were not supposed to know about them.

"Come on, boys," the young law student went on.

"Oh, but hadn't we better send for the authorities?" asked Percy. "Or at
least take a weapon," for Allen and the others had nothing in their
hands.

"He's loony on the subject of weapons," grunted Roy.

Allen led the way down cellar, the girls and the servants not venturing,
though Betty did want to go. But her mother kept her back.

A glance served to show that the diamonds were in the box, safe. As far
as could be learned the intruders had not been near them.

"We'll bring them up, after the servants have gone to bed," Allen
confided to his chums.

And when the maids had retired there was a sort of "council of war"
among the others.

Opinion was divided as to whether the men were ordinary tramps, or
perhaps sneak thieves, or whether they were after the diamonds.

"But how would they know they were down cellar?" asked Betty. "We are
the only ones who know of the hiding place, and we haven't told anyone,
except Percy."

"Oh, I never said a word!" Percy cried. Indeed he only heard the story
of the find, after the scare.

"Of course if some men from this neighborhood hid the diamonds in the
sand, and knew we girls took them out, and if they were around the house
and heard something of the excitement the night papa took them down
cellar, it would explain how they knew where to look for them," Betty
said.

"Too many ifs," commented Allen. "Have there been any strangers around
lately--tramps or anyone like that?"

At first Betty said there had been none, but later she recalled that a
maid had reported to her that an undesirable specimen of a man had
begged something to eat at the kitchen door the morning after Mr. Nelson
had hid the diamonds down cellar.

"And," Betty said, "he may have been hanging around when father and Will
left for Boston that day."

"But how could he know the stones were hidden down cellar?" asked
Mollie.

"I don't know that he could tell that, exactly," Betty admitted, "but if
you remember, as papa was going away he called back: 'Be sure to keep
the c