me to the legation to tell Everett that Peabody
was in danger of bringing about international complications by having
himself thrust into the cartel.

"If he qualifies for this local jail," said Garland, "you will have a
lot of trouble setting him free. You'd better warn him it's easier to
keep out than to get out."

"What has he been doing?" asked the minister.

"Poaching on Ward's ruins," said the consul. "He certainly is a
hustler. He pretends to go to Copan, but really goes to Cobre. Ward
had him followed and threatened to have him arrested. Peabody claims
any tourist has a right to visit the ruins so long as he does no
excavating. Ward accused him of exploring the place by night and
taking photographs by flash-light of the hieroglyphs. He's put an armed
guard at the ruins, and he told Peabody they are to shoot on sight. So
Peabody went to Mendoza and said if anybody took a shot at him he'd
bring warships down here and blow Amapala off the map."

"A militant archaeologist," said Everett, "is something new. Peabody
is too enthusiastic. He and his hieroglyphs are becoming a bore."

He sent for Peabody and told him unless he curbed his spirit his
minister could not promise to keep him out of a very damp and dirty
dungeon.

"I am too enthusiastic," Peabody admitted, "but to me this fellow Ward
is like a red flag to the bull. His private graft is holding up the
whole scientific world. He won't let us learn the truth, and he's too
ignorant to learn it himself. Why, he told me Cobre dated from 1578,
when Palacio wrote of it to Philip the Second, not knowing that in that
very letter Palacio states that he found Cobre in ruins. Is it right a
man as ignorant--"

Everett interrupted by levelling his finger.

"You," he commanded, "keep out of those ruins! My dear professor," he
continued reproachfully, "you are a student, a man of peace. Don't try
to wage war on these Amapalans. They're lawless, they're unscrupulous.
So is Ward. Besides, you are in the wrong, and if they turn ugly, your
minister cannot help you." He shook his head and smiled doubtfully.
"I can't understand," he exclaimed, "why you're so keen. It's only a
heap of broken pottery. Sometimes I wonder if your interest in Cobre
is that only of the archaeologist."

"What other interest--" demanded Peabody.

"Doesn't Ward's buried treasure appeal at all?" asked the minister. "I
mean, of course, to your imagination. It does to mine."

The