Nini looked at Neeland:
“What else except papers was in the box you lost?” she asked coolly.
Neeland, very red and uncomfortable, gazed back at the girl without replying; and she laughed at him, showing her white teeth.
“You brought the Yellow Devil into Europe, M’sieu Nilan! Erlik, the Yellow Demon. When he travels there is unrest. Where he rests there is war!”
“You’re very clever,” retorted Neeland, quite out of countenance.
“Yes, we are,” said Fifi, with her quick smile. “And who but M’sieu Nilan should admit it?”
“Very clever,” repeated Neeland, still amazed and profoundly uneasy. “But this Yellow Devil you say I brought into Europe must have been resting in America, then. And, if so, why is there no war there?” 342
“There would have been—with Mexico. You brought the Yellow Demon here, but just in time!”
“All right. Grant that, then. But—perhaps he was a long time resting in America. What about that, pretty gipsy?”
The girl shrugged again: