I
know where to begin! I am no fool!"

Monty made up his mind there and then that this man's game would not be
worth the candle.

"No, Mr. Coutlass, I can't oblige you," he said.

The Greek half-arose and then sat down again.

"You can not find it without my assistance!" he said, wrinkling his
face for emphasis.

"I'm not looking for assistance," said Monty.

"Aha! You play with words! You are not--but you will! I am no fool,
my Lord! I understand! Not for nothing did I make a friend again of
that pig Hassan! Not for nothing have I waited all these months in
this stinking Zanzibar until a man should come in search of that ivory
whom I could trust! Not for nothing did Juma, the lazaretto attendant
tell Hassan you desired to see him! You seek the ivory, but you wish
to keep it all! To share none of it with me!" He stood up, and made
another bow, much curter than his former one. "I am Georges Coutlass!
My courage is known! No man can rob me and get away with it!"

"My good man," drawled Monty, raising his eyebrows in the comfortless
way he has when there seems need of facing an inferior antagonist. (He
hates to "lord it" as thoroughly as he loves to risk his neck.) "I
would not rob you if you owned the earth! If you have valuable
information I'll pay for it cheerfully after it's tested."

"Ah! Now you talk!"

"Observe--I said after it's tested!"

"I don't think he knows anything," said Fred. "I think he guessed a
lot, and wants to look, and can't afford to pay his own expenses.
Isn't that it?"

"What do you mean?" demanded Coutlass.

"I can't talk Greek," said Fred. "Shall I say it again in English?"

"You may name any reasonable price," said Monty, "for real information.
Put it in writing. When we're agreed on the price, put that in
writing too. Then, if we find the information is even approximately
right, why, we'll pay for it."

"Ah-h-h! You intend to play a trick on me! You use my information!
You find the ivory! You go out by the Congo River and the other coast,
and I kiss myself good-by to you and ivory and money! I am to be what
d'you call it?--a milk-pigeon!"

"Being that must be some sensation!" nodded Yerkes.

"I warn you I can not be tampered with!" snarled the Greek, putting on
his hat with a flourish. "I leave you, for you to think it over! But
I tell you this--I promise you--I swear! Any expedition in search of
that ivory that does not include Georges Coutlass