Tokalji regarded him uneasily.
"Here," he said gruffly, offering the bottle, "drink again and think better of it, man. No harm is done by plain talk. That's right. Sit. I get along with those who don't fear me too much. You shall not be sorry you strayed in here—but you must deal honestly with me. I am buying your wits, and I expect something for my money."
"So far it is only we who have paid," retorted Nikka. "How much are we to get?"
"How much? It depends upon how much we win. There will be hundreds of gold pieces for every man if it goes right."
"If what goes right?"
Tokalji hitched his stool closer to us, and glanced around.
"See you, Giorgi—and you, too, Jakka, if you can understand any of this talk,—the two Franks you robbed live at the hotel in Pera, where all the rich Franks stay."
"We saw it this morning," assented Nikka.
"These two Franks are an English lord and his servant. They seek something which I also seek and with them in their venture are two others, an Amerikansky, Nash, and one named Zaranko, who, they say, is a fiddler and was one of our people in his youth."
"I have heard of that one," said Nikka.