The outcast seemed to be giving a most glowing description of the contents of the little crock. Dave tried to follow his meaning.
"He is saying," translated Dave to himself, "that he has great quantities of whatever the crock contains--lots of it, heaps of it--I see. Now he has interested the priest. He is offering to buy his citizenship back into the tribe, that looks sure. Ah, he is showing what he has in the crock. Gracious!"
Dave forgot all prudence. He was so interested that he slipped out from hiding to gaze at the contents of the crock, now poured out rapidly by the outcast upon the food mat.
Fortunately the two men were equally engrossed. What the outcast had poured out of the crock were half a hundred or more pure gold coins!
CHAPTER XVIII
THE OUTCAST'S SECRET
The young ocean diver had a right to be astonished and interested. The first moment his eyes landed on the coins the outcast had exhibited, he felt sure they were part of the ocean treasure.
They were similar in size to the bulk of the pieces brought up from the ocean bed in the diving bell. They looked the same at a distance. Besides, where on this rarely visited island would the native get such a hoard except from the treasure heap?
The priest gathered up a lot of the coins. They manifestly pleased him. He laughed with glee and clinked them musically together in his hands.
Then he seemed to ask the outcast a great many questions. He stamped his feet as the latter appeared to evade direct answers.