"Can you lend us just a few warriors?" asked Dick. "They know the jungle warfare and can show my desert fighters what to do."
"I can lend you a guide, Mutaba," said the Mahatma. "But once I set the tribe free to warfare, my days here are ended."
"You mean that they would turn on you and kill you?"
"No, my son. I mean that the unseen guide who led me here to meditate, told me that when war came to my tribe, on that day my search would begin once more."
"Your search? For what?"
Dan's question brought an unexpected reply from the Hindu.
"My search is for an ancient crown of massive gold and gems," he said. "It is so old that no man knows when it was made or for whom. It is of great value to the possessor."
"If it's gold you want," said Dan, "we know where you can get a shipload. Don't we, Dick?"
"Peace, peace! Gold is nothing to me. It is the crown I seek. The crown that has been in the treasuries of great kings but now has vanished. King Solomon had it as a gift from the Queen of Sheba. It was lost for centuries, then found in the Court of an Abyssinian king. Then it disappeared. Where it is now, I know not."
"Why don't you look for it in your crystal?"