"Veil, keep on; und ven I dell you somet'ing, schust led me know. Churgens, you vas a pad egg, und you vill ged vat's coming by you vone oof dose tays. How you ged off dot islant in der Pahamas?
"Ask me," taunted Jurgens.
"Vat a frame-oop!" muttered Carl dejectedly. "Look here, vonce: Vere iss Downsent?"
"Ask me again," said Jurgens mockingly.
"How you steal dot chest from him?"
"I don't mind telling you that," grinned Jurgens. "The information can't possibly harm us, because we'll be out of the way long before you can tell any one; and I'd like to have Motor Matt, who's been bucking us ever since we first went on the trail of the chest, know just what we've done to his friend Townsend.
"Townsend bobbed up off the levee in that submarine boat of his, a few days ago, and Whistler and I were on hand watching for him to arrive. He got here at night, unloaded the chest, and had a man start for town with it on a wheelbarrow. It was a foolish thing for Townsend to do—try to wheel the chest away with only himself and the man at the wheelbarrow to look out for it."
Jurgens paused and gave Bangs a wink.
"Townsend never got to the place he was going with that chest, eh, Proctor?" he continued. "We'd just lowered the chest into a rowboat when a couple of watchman came along. We got off from the levee to wait until the watchman got past, and then, when we went after the boat, it had disappeared. We hunted good and hard for it, but haven't seen the boat since. Whistler went to talk with a voodoo woman he used to know to see if she could tell him what became of the boat and the chest. He hasn't got back yet; but here's the chest, big as life, all safely locked and ready for us to open it. Where did you fellows pick up the chest, Dutchy?"
"Talk aboudt der vedder," suggested Carl.