t. I've been into it once, but never explored it.
There's no trade there to speak of, or anything to take a white man into
it. This find, however, is to be made in a sort of amphitheatre, or
hollow, known to the Zulus as Ukohlo. Now, listen, Wyvern. We haven't
got to talk about this even between ourselves, unless we're out like
this. You never know who the deuce may be within earshot."

"That's so. I'm all safe. I may be a damn fool at money making, or
rather, money losing, but I do know how to keep my head shut. But look
here, Joe. Have you got any theory of your own with regard to this
yarn; for I take it those four beauties didn't come up out of the sea
and lug a few bags of valuable stones up to a remote corner of the Zulu
country and plant them there for the future emolument of you and me?"

"Rather. I have a theory. I believe the whole thing spells a big
robbery in some other part of the world, what of or who from is a
mystery and always will be, for you bet these jokers didn't leave any
clue with the stuff they planted. The fact that the one of them, who
for convenience sake we'll call the leading rip, could talk some Zulu
points to the fact that he at any rate had been there before, that the
Zululand coast was their deliberate objective, and they couldn't well
have struck a better one. Whether they stole the ship as well is
another question, or whether there were more on board her, and these
four managed to scuttle her so as to destroy all trace and then clear
out with the only boat, is a mystery too. But obviously they reckoned
on getting through into Transvaal territory and that way to Europe, thus
completely hiding their trail, which was an ingenious idea."

Wyvern puffed at his pipe for a minute or two. Then seriously:

"What about this, Joe? This stuff--if it is the proceeds of a robbery--
what right have we to benefit by it?"

Fleetwood started, stared, then threw back his head and roared.

"Good Lord, Wyvern, you ought to have been a parson. I wouldn't do a
shot on anyone unfairly, as you know. Man alive, but I was only giving
you one of my theories--I may have others. Here's one. You know from
time to time yarns crop up in the papers about buried treasure in the
West Indies and all sorts of those old piratical romps. Well, this may
be a case in point, and these oily-looking, cut-throat scoundrels may
have struck upon just one of these finds. To save awkward questions,
and the p