led, and shook his head.

"I must have been bad," he said. "Well, you saw how bad I was. But, I
say, Sellon, did I--er--talk much--talk bosh, you know? Fellows often
do when they're that way."

"Well, the fact is, you did, rather, You seemed to wander a good deal--
talked a lot about `stones,' and a certain `Valley of the Eye,' which
was going to make all out fortunes."

Renshaw started.

"Did I?" he said, passing his hand over his eyes, as if to clear his
recollection. Then he was silent for a while, and seemed to be thinking
deeply. The other, though affecting the greatest unconcern, watched him
narrowly.

"Look here, Sellon," he went on, "it isn't in the least odd that I
should have talked about that. I firmly believe in the existence of the
place, though I've made no less than four careful attempts at finding
it. It's not so very far from here, I believe, and sooner or later I
shall hit upon it."

"Well, and what then?"

"What then?" repeated Renshaw, slowly. "Only that we are something near
millionaires."

But for the fact that his own eyes had rested on the clue to the
mystery, Sellon would have suspected that his friend's mind was
wandering still, that from long dwelling upon this one idea it was
following a chimera with all the blind faith which accompanies a
self-wrought delusion. Now, however, as he listened, there was an
intensity of eagerness in his face, which, try as he would, he could
hardly suppress.

"_We_?" he said. "Do you want me to help you to hunt for this Golconda,
then, old chap?"

"I do. You have saved my life, Sellon, and you may possibly find that
it was the best day's work you ever did in yours. You shall share the
knowledge that will make rich men of us. We will search for the
`Valley' together."

"I'm your man, Fanning. That sort of thing will suit me down to the
ground. Now, look sharp and get strong on your pins again, and we'll
start."

The other smiled.

"What a mercurial fellow you are, Sellon! No; that isn't how to go to
work. How, I ask you, are we going to set out expedition on foot, now?
Look at that, for instance,"--pointing through the open door to the bare
veldt. Shimmering in the fiery forenoon, "And it's worse country over
there than here. We must wait until the drought breaks up."

"Must we? And, meanwhile, somebody else may hit upon the place."

"Make your mind easy on that point. But for the clue I possess, it
would never be found-