A moment later his eyes caught a faint gleam. Pretending to examine the sand, he stooped over to pick up a metal disc. Without knowing just why, he thrust it into his pocket.
“What she doesn’t know won’t worry her,” he told himself a moment later.
“Well,” Mildred said, in a tone of forced cheerfulness, “this seems to be the end of the search. Let’s go back.”
“O.K.”
They turned about and were soon threading their way back through the jungle. “Johnny,” she said at last, “We need our boat more than ever, now.”
“For protection as well as profit?”
“Yes.”
“Ask Dave to take you down in the steel ball,” Johnny suggested. “He’ll do it, I’m sure, as he’s in love with the professor’s invention. Can’t say I blame him, either. After that—ask him to help find your boat”.
“I’ll ask him tonight, if he’ll take me down.”
And she did.