"But how big are the ruins?"
"Bigger than London, so Coddy says!"
Coddy nodded his head in confirmation of this fact. But still Hayle seemed incredulous.
"And are you going to search all that area? It strikes me that you will be an old man by the time you find the treasure, Kitwater."
"Don't you believe it. We've got something better to go upon than that. There was an old Chinese traveller who visited this place in the year ... what was the year, Coddy?"
"Twelve hundred and fifty-seven," Codd replied without hesitation.
"Well, he describes the glory of the place, the wealth of the inhabitants, and then goes on to tell how the king took him to the great treasure-chamber, where he saw such riches as mortal man had never looked upon before."
"But that doesn't tell you where the treasure-chamber is?" argued Hayle.
"Perhaps not, but there are other ways of finding out; that is, if a man has his wits about him. You've got to put two and two together if you want to get on in this world. Coddy has translated it all, and this is what it amounts to. When the king had shown the traveller his treasure, the latter declared that his eyes were so blinded by its magnificence that he could scarcely mount the steps to the spot where his majesty gave audience to his people. In another place it mentions that when the king administered justice he was seated on the throne in the courtyard of the Three-headed Elephants. Now what we've got to do is to find that courtyard, and find it we will."
"But how do you know that the treasure hasn't been taken away years ago? Do you think they were such fools as to leave it behind when they went elsewhere? Not they!"