“But gold—have you heard of gold?” Tudor asked impatiently. “Do you know anything about gold?”
Sheldon smiled, while the two visitors hung eagerly upon his words.
“You can go two miles up the Balesuna and wash colours from the gravel. I’ve done it often. There is gold undoubtedly back in the mountains.”
Tudor and Von Blix looked triumphantly at each other.
“Old Wheatsheaf’s yarn was true, then,” Tudor said, and Von Blix nodded. “And if Malaita turns out as well—”
Tudor broke off and looked at Joan.
“It was the tale of this old beachcomber that brought us here,” he explained. “Von Blix befriended him and was told the secret.” He turned and addressed Sheldon. “I think we shall prove that white men have been through the heart of Guadalcanal long before the time of the Austrian expedition.”
Sheldon shrugged his shoulders.
“We have never heard of it down here,” he said simply. Then he addressed Von Blix. “As to the boys, you couldn’t use them farther than Binu, and I’ll lend you as many as you want as far as that. How many of your party are going, and how soon will you start?”
“Ten,” said Tudor; “nine men and myself.”