"But will they pay?"
"Of course they will pay. Big. A ransom princely."
"And why, Perona? Why princely? Who is this fellow—so important?"
"He is with rich business men, I tell to you."
"A private citizen?"
"... And a private citizen, of a surety. Fool! Have you come to be a coward, De Boer?"
"Pah!"
"Well then I tell you it is a lifetime chance. All of it I have arranged. If he was a government agent, that would be very different, for they are very keen, this administration of the American government, to protect their agents. But their private citizens—it is a scandal! Do you not ever pick the newscasters' reports, De Boer? Has it not been a scandal that this administration does very little for its citizens abroad?"
"And you want to get rid of this fellow? Why, Perona?"
"That is not your concern. The ransom is to be all yours. Make away with him—in the depths somewhere. Demand your ransom. Fifty thousand gold-standards! Demand it of me. Of Nareda!"