“I still can’t see how he managed to fool those natives into thinking that those colored pebbles are real gold.”
“They are real gold,” Biff’s father stated, with a smile. “Remember all those nuggets that Nara carries? I think he has been palming them from his pockets. Every time he dips a pebble into the kettle, he lets it drop and brings out a nugget instead.”
Biff watched Nara give the dip treatment to a few more pebbles, then nodded.
“I think you’re right, Dad,” said Biff, “but Nara is mighty clever at it. Only why is he handing out so many nuggets?”
“To buy our freedom, son,” returned Mr. Brewster. “Look. Nara is bargaining with the chief right now.”
The nuggets apparently weren’t enough, for the Maco chief was shaking his head emphatically. Nara promptly came up with a much bigger offer. He picked some stones the size of hen’s eggs and began passing them among the tribesmen, who nodded eagerly.
“Nara can’t possibly be carrying nuggets the size of those stones,” declared Mr. Brewster. “They’d weigh him down so he couldn’t walk. Get ready now to run for it.”
Biff passed the word to Kamuka, who relayed it to Whitman. By then, the Maco chief had accepted the ransom offer, but wanted the big stones turned to gold. Nara went to the kettle, pretended to throw in more fistfuls of sunlight, then turned to the chief and made a beckoning gesture, as he cackled:
“Come and get it!”
Headed by the chief, the tribesmen made a charge for the magic kettle, all anxious to turn their stones into gold before the pot ran out of concentrated sunlight. Nara stepped away to let them pass, then waved for Mr. Brewster and the rest to begin their own dash the opposite way.