Then Case turned and whispered to Frank:
“Ever see those men before? I thought one of them seemed to have a mutual understanding with you about—well, about Cloud island, you know. What is all this talk about Cloud island?”
“As I have told you boys before, I can’t tell you anything now. I may tell you all about it in time, but just now there is nothing to say.”
“But about those men?” persisted Case.
“I don’t remember either face,” Frank replied, slowly, “but I have an idea that they knew me—that is, that they have heard of me, somewhere, before we met in the jungle. If they are going to Cloud island, as they told the Indian, they certainly knew something about my affairs before they started. Now, that is all I’m going to tell you about it,” he added with a smile.
Arrived at Monteiro, Clay brought out the company purse and showed that it was empty.
“We’ll have to borrow from Frank,” he said. “I was in hope that we could get a real cargo somewhere, and so get through on our own resources, but it seems that we’ve either got to go back, drifting down, or run in debt.”
“Why,” Frank said, astonished, “this money belongs to the common fund—it is just as much yours as it is mine.”
“I fail to see it in that light,” Clay insisted. “The money belongs to you individually, and if we use any portion of it we’ll pay it back.”
“And here I’ve been riding with you, and living off you, for weeks,” urged Frank. “If you took all this money you wouldn’t have any too much pay for what you’ve done for me. If you don’t take it, I’ll get off at Monteiro and wait for a steamer going up the river.”