Meg gave a little cry. It lashed Freddy to fury against Michael; it was the cry of a crucified soul.
"It's just his casual drifting again!"
"But you didn't believe in the treasure!" Meg's loyalty was up in arms against Freddy's voice of accusation.
"I know I didn't, and it's yet got to be proved that it is there. But the fact remains that I heard from the Director of Public Works that a temporary camp has been pitched on the very site Mike was going for. The whole story is a complication of truth and fiction."
Meg spoke with difficulty. The agony at her heart was choking her. "Why have they suddenly sent excavators to that particular spot, if there is nothing there?"
"On the strength of the information given by a native."
"And what had the native found? Isn't it just too diabolical and wicked?"
"It's jolly hard lines, but if Mike had gone there straight and as quickly as he could, if he hadn't played the idiot, he'd have been there before the native who has betrayed him."
While Freddy was speaking, thoughts came to Meg of her vision of Akhnaton, of the strange and occult incidents connected with the story of the hidden treasure.
"What do you mean by playing the fool?" she said. "Have you heard from Michael? Have you any reliable ground for supposing that he played the fool?" Meg's voice was beautifully scornful.