Clarence jumped up suddenly, shouting out his delight: "Yes, father, let's go to the Diamond Mountains. Oh, won't that be glorious?"
"And pick up treasure," suggested Helen; "enough to build the new mission chapel that is so needed," she added, her eyes taking on a deeper glow as she glanced at her father.
"Why, are there really any treasures to be found in those mountains?" asked Mallard, catching the excitement.
Mr. Kit-ze, who understood enough of the language to catch the drift of the question, quickly replied: "Yes, honorable sir, there are treasures. Two gentlemen from your country got a whole wallet full of diamonds in the mountains last week. They say they can be picked up like bamboo reeds after a freshet."
"Only Mr. Kit-ze's enthusiasm," said Mr. Reid in an aside to his nephew. "Some one has been filling him with the story, which is vastly exaggerated, I am sure. But later in the year, Mallard, if you desire it, we can make the trip to the Diamond Mountains. Now my Master's business calls me in another direction."
"All right, uncle, that Diamond Mountain trip can wait. Yes, we'll take it later," he added after a pause.
"Is your sampan ready, Mr. Kit-ze?" Mr. Reid now asked.
[MR. KIT-ZE'S HAT WAS MOVING ACROSS THE ORGAN! ]
"Not quite, exalted master; but your servant can make it ready in a day or so."