"As I expected," he said. "With all your care and cunning Flower has been too many for you. The only man who guessed the truth was Jansen, and that is why he came down to-night. Take one of these bags in your hand and feel its weight. Isn't it heavy? It's so heavy that it can only be one metal. And see how it sparkles in your fingers."
"You mean it is gold dust," Russell cried.
"Nothing more nor less, my friend. This case is full of it, and when we come to open other cases I shall not be surprised to find treasures even more valuable. Flower must have brought them here by some extraordinary means and baffled all his party. We shall probably never know how he managed it. But we have yet to decide upon our plan of campaign. There is much to be done still."
CHAPTER XLV
ALADDIN'S CAVE
"And so all these things come from your part of Borneo?" Russell asked. "This, then, is the treasure which you have all been after?"
"I expect so," Uzali said with a smile. "Mind you, I don't want to affect a knowledge superior to your own and I admit that I have only had my suspicions lately. But I have been looking for Flower for some time and hardly expected to identify him with the prosperous ship-owner. When he was in Borneo he bore another name. But all that does not matter now. The first suspicion of the truth I had was when Miss Galloway sat by me on the night of the party at the theatre. She was wearing a certain ornament which you have heard of——"
"The diamond moth," Russell murmured, "oh, yes."
"Or a portion of it," Uzali went on. "The ornament attracted my attention immediately, because I knew there was only one spot in the world it could have come from and that was the palace where I and my ancestors were born. The jewel at one time had been a favourite ornament of a sister, long since dead, and I remember how it was broken. Nobody in our part of the island could mend it, and I promised that the next time I was in London I would see to the matter. That is how one part of it was in my possession, but for the life of me I could not tell what had become of the other half, till on the night of the party I began to feel my way. Nobody but one of the infamous crew who destroyed my birthplace could have the other half of my sister's jewel. I took the trouble to find out afterwards who this Samuel Flower was and what he was like. Then you came along and made things still plainer. I saw at once that Flower had outwitted his confederates and had conveyed the treasure of my people to England. Of course, all this was conjecture, but I had the solution of the problem pretty plainly before me. When I knew that that scoundrel Jansen was coming down here and how he had contrived to misguide my unfortunate fellow-countrymen not a doubt remained in my mind. In point of fact I came here to-night, not so much to catch Jansen red-handed as to denounce Flower as soon as he were well enough to listen to my charge. I never dreamt for a moment but that my countrymen were still in London, but when I knew they were here, I saw it was all over with Jansen. I would have tried to prevent the catastrophe, but, unfortunately, I did not know where to begin. Directly I heard that cry I knew whose it was. But don't you think we had better take your friend Mercer into our confidence. I am sorry in a way the thing has ended like this because it puts an end to your scheme——"
"For taking what belonged to somebody else," Russell laughed. "My dear sir, that is the fortune of war. I had intended to make a handsome thing out of this business, and I meant to put a large sum of money into Mercer's pocket at the same time."