"Wait!" Collins continued. "You haven't heard me out. We'll see that Lyman gets all his money out of the deal, with something besides, and also that you get a quarter of a million dollars for saying nothing."
"Nothing doing!" Ned repeated.
Collins actually gasped with amazement. He had offered bribes before, but had never started out with so large a sum. And he had never been denied!
"Understand the proposition," Collins said, presently, as soon as he could catch his breath, "it is not you we want. We don't care a continental cuss for you. What we want is for you to keep quiet after we find Lyman. It is the Secret Service of the United States we axe afraid of. I'll make it half a million."
"It must be a rich concession," Ned said.
"It is, and Lyman got it for a song, for no one ever supposed that swamp would make good grazing ground."
"I guess Mr. Lyman will earn all he gets out of it," Ned laughed.
"He will never get anything out of it, unless he comes to terms with me," Collins said, impatiently. "We'll find some way to keep him out of Asuncion until after the 31st. It is a long way from here to Paraguay!"
"All the more reason why we should get busy looking for him," Ned said.
"And when we find him?" asked Collins, tentatively.