The man’s actions and speech were such that Ralph thought that fright must have turned the fellow’s head.
“Yes, what of it?” demanded Ralph, as he eyed the wallet the man was flourishing under his nose.
“Look!”
He opened the case. In the light of another vivid flash, Ralph saw within the case a transparent pane of talc. Under this thin covering gleamed something that made Ralph’s head swim as he gazed.
The flash had revealed to his astounded gaze a fortune in gems. White, red and green, they mirrored back the lightning with blinding radiance.
“Gems!” gasped the boy.
“Yes, gems,” rejoined Hawke, his face livid as another brilliant flash revealed every line of his features and his wild, staring, frightened eyes; “gems worth two hundred thousand dollars. If you save my life, I will see that you are well rewarded.”
In the now almost incessant glare of the lightning, Ralph’s eyelids flickered. But it was the brilliance of the gems held out almost under his nose by his terrified passenger that made him wink, far more than the electrical display.
“Goodness! They’re enough to blind a fellow,” he exclaimed to himself as he eyed the heap of precious stones.
“But what good are those gems to you in comparison with your life, Hawke?” demanded Ralph.