"But, curse the fellow! he
has no reverence, although at first he seemed almost as scared as I was
myself. He said that as we could not begin our search with all those
corpses about, they had best be got out of the way as soon as possible.
Or perhaps it was because he is really afraid of them, and wanted to
prove to himself that they are nothing more than dust. Benita," went on
the old man, "to tell you the truth, I wish heartily that we had left
this business alone. I don't believe that any good will come of it, and
certainly it has brought enough trouble already. That old prophet of a
Molimo has the second sight, or something like it, and he does not hide
his opinion, but keeps chuckling away in that dreadful place, and piping
out his promises of ill to be."
"He promised me nothing but good," said Benita with a little smile.
"Though I don't see how it can happen. But if you dislike the thing,
father, why not give it up and try to escape?"
"It is too late, dear," he replied passionately. "Meyer would never
come, and I can't in honour leave him. Also, I should laugh at myself
for the rest of my life; and, after all, why should we not have the gold
if it can be found? It belongs to nobody. We do not get it by robbery,
or murder; nuggets are of no use to Portuguese who have been dead two
hundred years, and whose heirs, if they have any, it is impossible to
discover.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152