I began an explanation, going patiently into every detail, and when I finally finished Gilhooly knew as much about our situation as I did.
For some time Gilhooly walked up and down the road, passing and repassing the heap of gold. At last he paused beside it.
"We should return this treasure to its owner, Mr. Munn," said he, and he dropped the black stone on the yellow pile. "From what you tell me, this is a strange planet and strangely peopled. Yet there is superstition here as well as in our native orb—as these wonder tales about the Bolla will bear evidence."
"I think with you, sir," said I. "The Bolla is simply a fetish and its miraculous powers are purely imaginary."
"That is the sensible way to look at it. Suppose we load our pockets with the gold and start back with it to the city from whence it was taken?"
I assented and suggested using our coats as improvised bags for the easier transportation of the king's wealth, and we stripped to our shirt sleeves and set about our work. In half an hour we had collected all the scattered treasure, had bound it up in our coats and had started back.
Gilhooly preserved a pensive silence. His thoughts were far away and he seemed entirely oblivious of the fact that I was trudging along at his side. It was only when we turned an angle in the road and came face to face with Quinn, Meigs, Markham, and Popham that Gilhooly showed any interest in our present situation.
CHAPTER XVII.
A CHANGE OF HEART.
The meeting between Gilhooly and his brother exiles was most affecting. In the general joy at finding the ex-railway magnate restored to reason the matter of the imperial exchequer was temporarily lost sight of.