It was in the midst of the discussion of ways and means that the professor electrified them all by a sudden proposition. He had been silent for a long time, buried, apparently, in deep thought. Mr. Chadwick had been asking Jack about how long it would be possible for them to fly on the gas-making supply they had on hand. The boy had replied that he figured they had enough on hand to carry them at least two weeks, allowing for evaporation and occasional intervals of land or water travel. Then it was that the professor spoke.
“For how much vill you charter me your machine?” he asked.
They stared at him for a moment. The question appeared so utterly irrelevant to what they had been discussing.
“Ach! I mean vat I say,” repeated the savant. “Are you villing to hire your machine oudt for a trip of say ten days?”
“Why, I—I beg your pardon, but I don’t exactly understand,” said Jack, acting as spokesman for the rest.
“Zo! Perhaps I should ought to haf madt meinself more clear, hein?”
“Well, you did give us a bit of a jump,” declared Jack. “The idea of chartering a machine in the midst of a Brazilian jungle is rather startling when you spring it as quickly as all that.”
“Dot is mein vay,” said the professor quietly, “budt ledt me make meinself plain. You know der object off mein trip down here?”
“In a general way you have already explained it,” said Mr. Chadwick. “You are to collect specimens for a zoölogical society of Germany, and also to bring home a complete account of your exploration of the country.”
“Dot is righdt. Idt vos for dot I vos hoping to gedt you to make me some sordt of a ship dot vould navigate dese vaters. Budt now dings haf fallen oudt differently. Dose foolish mens on der yacht dink dot I come after treasure. Budt neverdeless dey bring der ship chust aboudt vere I vant to go pefore she is ge-wrecked. I suppose dot dey think dot after a vile dey make me tell vere der treasure iss,—hein?”