the
interior, on the rivers we know, that I can ship them to Calcutta
at lower terms than they can buy them in India; and I was as much
as told that, if I carried out my present contracts satisfactorily,
I should get the supply of the troops there. Of course, that would
not be a very great thing of itself but, as I could work it without
trouble in connection with my own business, it would make a
handsome addition to the profits."

"But how about money, uncle?"

"That is all right, lad. I had no difficulty, whatever, in getting
an advance at Calcutta, on the strength of my contract and upon the
guarantee of my agents; so that I am all right, in that respect."

"I asked, uncle, because I can let you have eighteen hundred
pounds, if you want them."

Tom Pearson looked at him in astonishment.

"Why, what on earth have you been doing--robbing the treasury of
the King of Ava?"

"No, uncle. I had a bag of gems given me, by some Burmese bandits.
When I got down here, I took a few of them to a merchant. He
advanced fifteen hundred rupees on them, and sent them to Burragee,
the jeweller at Madras and, six weeks afterwards, he paid me
another three thousand five hundred. I sent up another batch and,
last week, I got an order from the jewellers for fifteen hundred
pounds; so that I have more than eighteen hundred in hand now, and
I don't think that I have sent more than a third of the gems away."

"Well, that is a piece of luck, Stanley! Why on earth did the
brigands give you the gems?"

"Well, uncle, they are things that, from what they told me, there
is great difficulty and risk in trying to dispose of. They are a
royal monopoly, and nobody dare buy them or, if they do, will give
next to nothing for them; because of the risk of the transaction,
and because they know that the vendors are in a fix, and must sell.
Besides, there is a strong chance of their handing over anyone who
offers such things to the authorities. That was one reason why they
gave them to me. Then, too, they had made a good haul of
merchandise which was, to them, a great deal more valuable, as
there was no difficulty in disposing of it. Lastly, they had taken
a fancy to me, because I saved one of their comrade's lives--the
man who showed you up here."

"Well, lad, you shall tell me all about it, this evening. I must be
going down to the commissariat yard, to arrange the landing of my
beasts. I came straight to see you, directly I landed. We dropped