“What is the question?”
“Do you know the story set forth in this article?” asked the Indian quickly.
“Yes. As I told you the whole countryside knows it.”
“Then you must be aware that the Begum of Kam gave the jewels to Simon Ferrier. I told you that I am a descendant of the Rajah of Kam, so you must have guessed that I desired to obtain possession of the peacock.”
“Quite so,” said Fuller coolly, “but there was no need for me to say so.”
Bakche was honest enough to admit this. “You are very cautious, you English gentlemen,” he said with a faint sneer, “and no doubt you did not wish me to get the peacock.”
“I fail to see how my telling you what you have now told me would aid you to get what belongs rightfully to another person.”
“It does not belong to another person, but to me,” cried Bakche wrathfully.
Alan raised his eyebrows. “How do you make that out?” he demanded in an exasperating manner. “George Inderwick’s servant, Ferrier, manufactured the peacock for his master and——”
“And so manufactured it that in some strange way it reveals where the jewels of the Begum are concealed,” finished the Indian sharply. “Understand Mr. Fuller, that I do not exactly claim the peacock——”