“Talked genealogy till you fell asleep,” laughed Margaret.  “But, Mrs. Hamilton, why are you so interested in this matter?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment.  You say it was a lady’s watch?” to Jack.

“Yes, and a very handsome one.  It is a Jurgensen with a gold case set with diamonds.  I understand these watches are very valuable.”

“Do you know the number?”

“Yes, Madame, do you?” Jack returned.  “Pardon me, but I have grown cautious.  Several persons have claimed the watch who had no title to it whatever, and I have become cautions.  Have you lost a watch of this sort?”

“Yes, and I know its number by heart.  Is it this?” and the lady gave the exact number of the watch, which Jack himself remembered.

“Yes, that is right,” he said.

“I will tell you something else about it, which, perhaps, you do not know, my boy,” the lady continued.  “The upper part of the case, the one with the diamonds on it, is double, and the top of it will unscrew, showing a small space beneath.  In this is a photograph of a little girl, one I lost, and a small gold coin.  When you return take off the top of the jeweled side of the case, and if you find it as I say then you will know that the watch is mine.”

“I did not deny this, Madame,” said Jack, coloring a little, “but you can readily understand that I would be cautious after so many persons have tried to get the watch away from me.  By the way, did you employ a detective, a rather self-important person, to find it for you?”

“Higgins!” laughed the lady.  “Yes, I did, and he told me that he had discovered the person who had it.”

“This was since the fire?”

“No, the day before.”

“And you have not seen him since?”

“No, nor heard from him.”

Jack laughed, and told how the detective had tried to get the watch from him, and how and why Dr. Wise had refused to give it up.

“Higgins always struck me as being a bit too zealous,” said the lady.  “I do not wonder that the doctor refused to deliver it after the man’s poor account of you.  You seem to be a great favorite both with the doctor and with the Hilltop boys.”

“And deservedly so,” echoed Percival.  “We won’t hear a word against Jack, and it has not spoiled him either.”

“And you know about the watch, too?”

“Yes, being in the tent when it dropped out of Jack’s pocket.   I
hoped he might keep it, but now-----”

“But now you think that I have a right to it?”

“To be sure, and I only meant that Jack should keep it in case he could find no owner for it:” 

It was now time for the boys to return to the camp, and they took their leave, Jack promising to examine the watch when he got back, and to report if it was as the lady had said.

After supper Jack and Percival went to the doctor’s, and Jack told what the lady had said, and asked to see the watch.