"Ah! And why this sudden change in your sentiments, Mr. Munn?"
"I can't explain it, professor."
"I believe it is a theory of yours that one thief has the right to take from another what does not belong to either of them."
"Two wrongs do not make a right."
"Indeed! The change in your sentiments is most sudden—and remarkable. Will you please untie the sleeves of your coat and allow me to have a look at that black stone?"
I lowered my bundle and opened it.
"There," said I, but poorly concealing the contempt I felt for the black stone as I pointed to it. "You may take stock in the superstition if you will, professor, but I will have none of it."
The professor gave me a queer smile, then picked up the Bolla and surveyed it curiously.
"Would you like to look at it, Mr. Meigs?" he asked.
"A fetish like this is a sure sign of barbarism," observed Meigs, taking the stone. "The creatures who inhabit this planet are not of a very high order mentally."