At the gaming-table gold dust passed from one hand to another, and little bags were emptied on the turn of the dice or filled to an accompaniment of shouts, protests and a general uproar, which were followed suddenly by intervals of intense silence.
Near the door the Parisian, the Burglar, the Caid and the Joker were seated at a table with a bottle before them. They were chatting somewhat furtively as they eyed, by turns, the proprietor, new arrivals as they came in, and the table at the other end at which a mad game was in progress.
"We might imagine ourselves at the Jockey Club," said the Joker.
"You dry up," said the Parisian.
The four men had no gold dust. They were penniless, but they were in possession of an important secret which had brought them to that village and filled them with a dim but splendid hope. They had overheard Chéri-Bibi and the Nut's conversation about Yoyo and his hoard of gold.
Consequently they had performed surprising feats, marching day and night in order to arrive at the diggings before the two men.
During the last twenty-four hours they had been hunting, without success, for Yoyo. At last they ran aground at Sanda's bar, and were now seated with a bottle in front of them for which, seemingly, they would find some difficulty in paying.
Suddenly the Parisian stood up and said:
"Don't you trouble about me, but go on with your chatter." And he showed them a set of dice with which they were quite familiar.
He went to have a look at the men at the gaming-table where a certain amount of disorder reigned. The men were arguing about a throw of the dice. The Parisian forked out a piece of linen which might possibly have been a handkerchief with a knot at the end of it containing an appreciable quantity of the precious metal.