“I have no right to answer you, but I don’t mind doing so.”
Ajeeb smiled.
“I guess,” he said, “I could discover a way to make you talk. Now, what became of that diamond? If you can help me find it, I will make you rich for life.”
“It was never in my possession.”
“Did not your fellow servant steal it?”
“So Stolburst claimed.”
“You ran away in company with Kidd,” remarked the Abyssinian.
“Yes.”
“Did he have the diamond?”
Cook hesitated. Finally he answered in the affirmative.