"Forgive me," cried Kathlyn, penitent, for she knew she had done wrong. "I did not think. But Umballa?"
"Yes, Umballa. One of the keepers found a knife by that bridge, and Ramabai identified it as belonging to Umballa. Whether he is alone or with many, I do not know; but this I do know: we must under no circumstances become separated again. Now, I'm going to quiz the chief."
But the chief said that no person described had passed or been seen. No one but a holy man had come that morning, and he had gone to the island in the sloop.
"For what?"
The chief smiled, but shook his head.
"Was it not a basket of gold and precious stones?" demanded the colonel.
The chief's eyes widened. There were others who knew, then? Bruce noticed his surprise.
"Colonel, show the good chief the royal seal on your document."
The colonel did so, and the chief salaamed when he saw the royal signature. He was mightily bewildered, and gradually he was made to understand that he had been vilely tricked.
"To the boats!" he shouted, as if suddenly awakening. "We may be too late, Lords! He said he was a holy man, and I believed."