"I did not--the Colonel did. Afterwards he returned to England, and I lost sight of him. When I came over six months ago, I heard of him, and intended to pay him a visit. But I put it off and off and off--until--" he made a rapid gesture, "poor Carr! His was a sad end."
"An unexpected one," said Herrick fixing his eyes on the man. "Did you know his servant, Frisco?"
"No!" replied Manuel calmly. "Frisco was after my time, or before it; I forget which."
Somehow Herrick felt instinctively that this was a lie. According to Bess the ex-sailor had been with Carr throughout his wandering life. It was incredible that if such was the case (and Jim preferred to believe Frisco rather than Santiago)--that Frisco should not have gone on to Peru. He would be needed on an expedition such as Manuel spoke of.
"Were you treasure-hunting" asked Jim.
Don Manuel nodded "Yes! The Peruvians buried a lot of gold and jewels, at the time of the Conquest. Carr got wind of a hiding place from some one--an Indian I believe, and induced me to go with him to Peru. I was doing nothing at the time, so I went."
"Carr found the treasure?"
"I believe so. Colonel Carr was rich was he not?"
"Very rich," chimed in Joyce. "Do you remember Herrick, how astonished we were at the magnificence of that house?"
"I remember," said Herrick curtly. The interruption did not please him, as he wanted particularly to hear what Santiago had to say. "But Señor Manuel, if you started on this search together, how was it that you do not know for certain if Colonel Carr was successful?"