ey buried it?" asked Wyvern. "They may
have just shoved it into some cleft."

"There was earth on their knives, moist earth such as you'd get in a
damp cool place where the sun never struck. But he can take us to the
spot; there are several holes and caves around, but I don't think we'll
find much difficulty in hitting off the right one."

"And then? What makes you think there'll be anything worth finding if
we do, for I suppose the two jokers never came back to dig it up again?"

"They didn't, because to cut a long yarn short, the Zulu-speaking chap
knifed his mate directly after--and he himself was killed by a sort of
outlaw tribe that hung out on the Swazi border. So there the stuff is,
waiting for us to dig out, and it'll mean a tidy fortune apiece."

"Yes, but what of the stuff being worth finding?" urged Wyvern, again.
He was beginning to feel less sanguine than at first.

"It is--for these reasons. First of all, the comparatively small
compass of the loads, points to proportionate value. Then that ruffian
murdered his remaining pal so as to get the benefit of the whole lot--
but, more important still, Hlabulana more than once caught sight of
shining stones, some white, some red and green, in fact, he thinks there
were other colours. He remembers it perfectly because once he saw them
sorting these into different bags I believe, too, one of the boxes
contained bar gold, for he says it was as heavy as a stone of the same
size. After the third chap had been knifed Hlabulana thought it about
time to make himself scarce and he accordingly did."

"You believe his yarn then, absolutely?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, but--" went on Wyvern, "why didn't he prospect for the stuff
himself, and get all the benefit of it?"

"The untrousered savage is a queer devil, Wyvern; at least as he is
represented in this country. The fact is Hlabulana is afraid to meddle
with this himself--Zulus are a superstitious crowd you know. As he puts
it--white people can do anything, no matter how `_tagati_.' Wherefore
we are to unearth the stuff and give him a share of the plunder
according to its value."

"Confiding of him, very. Do you find them often that way?"

"Oftener than you'd think. When a Zulu has made up his mind you're to
be trusted, he'll trust you almost to an unlimited extent."

"Well now, Fleetwood, where is this Golconda?"

"In one of the wildest and most remote tracts of the Zulu country, the
Lumisana fores