"I believe he has," said Marco. "Don't you think so yourself?"
"He has done something," The Rat said.
He seemed to be thinking things over before he spoke again—and then even more slowly than Marco.
"If he could mend the chain," he said almost in a whisper, "he could find out where the descendant of the Lost Prince is. He would know what to do for Samavia!"
He ended the words with a start, and his whole face glowed with a new, amazed light.
"Perhaps he does know!" he cried. "If the help comes like thoughts—as yours did—perhaps his thought of letting us give the Sign was part of it. We—just we two every-day boys—are part of it!"
"The old Buddhist said—" began Marco.
"Look here!" broke in The Rat. "Tell me the whole story. I want to hear it."
It was because Loristan had heard it, and listened and believed, that The Rat had taken fire. His imagination seized upon the idea, as it would have seized on some theory of necromancy proved true and workable.
With his elbows on the table and his hands in his hair, he leaned forward, twisting a lock with restless fingers. His breath quickened.