That fetched him like a shot. He came quite close and looked down at me eagerly. I could see the whites of his eyes, and they reminded me of a pollywog, but I kept a straight face.
“Do you mean to say you have found a bit of carved ivory, with a monkey’s head and a little beaded skirt? If so, girl, give it to me, and I will reward you with a handful of gold,” he cried.
“I have not got your ju-ju in my possession at this moment,” I said, speaking slowly, and watching him as intently as Dan watches the mouth of a burrow when he hears the rabbits squeaking at the sight of a ferret. “But I am fairly certain I can lay my hand on it, on terms.”
“Terms! Anything you ask! What is your price? Take me with you now—”
“Not so fast, Prince John,” said I, drawing away a foot or so—because a negro does look rather horrid when you are too near him, although he may only be showing animation, which, in his case, means teeth—“there is nothing to be gained by hurry. You can’t have your ju-ju to-night, but you may have it to-morrow night, provided you are willing to pay my father exactly half the sum you offered Mr. Schwartz.”
My heart beat a trifle faster when the words were out. Jack did not mention the amount. It might have been a few hundred pounds, or several thousands. I imagined it was a tolerably large figure, or Schwartz would not have been so ready to hand me fifty pounds for the mere expenses.
Prince John did not hesitate a second.
“I agree,” he cried, “yet surely Mr. Grosvenor has not sent you to arrange such an important matter with me!”
He might have been his own ju-ju addressing a black-beetle, or Lord Kitchener talking to a tin soldier, but I didn’t budge another inch. What I wanted to know was the price. So I made him jump again.
“Mr. Grosvenor knows nothing whatever about it,” I said. “This affair is absolutely between you and me, and must remain so until you bring the money to our house to-morrow evening.”