"What is right?" asked Jack.
And then Smith was quite done.
"It seems foolish talk," said Big Jack. "Let us speak of other things. Why did you come here?"
"To look for gold," said Smith.
"Do you want to make clubs with it?" asked Jack.
And when Smith had finished explaining currency, Jack wanted to ask no more.
"The tribe you belong to must all be fools," he said. "Gold is useful to make clubs with and things to boil food in, but who would give me a fish for a little bit of it when he can go out yonder and get all he wants. It is foolish talk. My father's father used to speak of such things, but he was an old man, and very silly."
"Who was your father's father?" asked Smith eagerly.
And the Baker, too, came closer. He had been listening to the talk with his mouth open, for the mystery weighed on him heavily.
"He was an old man, and silly," said Jack, "but he was a good fighter when he was young. And my father says he had killed white men belonging to a tribe over yonder."