Part 25 (2/2)
”Shall ait for her?” I repeated
My own vote would have been in favor of going upstairs and leaving her to her own devices I could see that Fred was afire with curiosity, but guessed that Will would agree with me However, the point was settled for us by the arrival of her maid, who smiled with unusual condescension and produced froarettes and sandwiches She spread theain
We sat and s everyWhenever ned in chorus and rose to go upstairs, a footstep seemed to herald her arrival To have passed her on the stairs would have been too aard to be ao to bed; and then she really ca at the bend in the stairs just as I set my foot on the lower step, so we trooped back to our chairs by theShe was dressed in a lacy silk negligee, and took pains this tiracious
”I waited until I felt sure we should not be disturbed,” she said, sht our chairs to the table, she sitting at one end and we together at one side, Fred nearest her and I farthest away She arettes of a sort I had never seen Without feeling exactly like flies in a spider's ere nervous as schoolboys
”What do you ith us?” asked Will at last
She laughed and took a cigarette
”Don't let us talk too loud You three men are after the Tippoo Tib ivory So is the Sultan of Zanzibar So is the Gerave the statement time to do its oork, and sth of her position, and our weakness, lay in there being three of us Any one of us ht let drop an ill-considered word that would commit the others I think we all felt that, for we sat and said nothing
”You answer her, Fred,” I said at last, and Will nodded agreeot up and sat on the other side of the table, where we could see his face and he ours
”You haven't answered Mr Yerkes' question,” he said ”What do you ith us, Lady Saffren Waldon?”
”I want an understanding with you I will be plain to begin with We all know you knohere the ivory is Lord Montdidier is not the oose chase We don't pretend to kno you caone to London, but we are sure you know it, perfectly sure, and for five or six reasons We are willing to buy the secret from you at your own price”
”Who are 'we'?” asked Fred pointedly, helping hiovernment, the Sultan of Zanzibar, and myself”
Fred smiled ”Between you you probably could pay,” he remarked
”I will tell you a few hard facts,” she said, ”now that the ice is broken You will never be allowed to make full use of your own secret
You have arrived at an inopportunetime Our search has been systematic, and it is a mathematical certainty we shall find e look for in time We do not propose to let new arrivals on the scene spoil all our plans and disappoint us just because they happen to have inforo ahead you will be watched like mice whom cats are after If you find the ivory, you will be killed before you can ainst it, don't we!” smiled Fred
”You are! But you can save us trouble, if you will Name your price
Tell me your secret Go your way If your story proves true you shall be paid by draft on London”
”Are you overlooking the idea,” asked Fred, ”that we overnment, and be contented with our ten per cent coainst any such foolishness In the first place, you will be killed at once if you dare In the second place, how do you know the British governs with the English!+” laughed Fred
”Bah! Do you think this is Whitehall? Do you think the officials here are proof against temptation? When I tell you that in Whitehall itself I can bribe two officials out of three, perhaps you'll understand me when I say that all these people have their price! And the price is low! Tell them where the ivory is--lead them to it--and they'll swear they found it themselves, so as to keep the commission themselves! And as for you--you three”--she sneered with the most sardonic, thin-lipped smile I ever saw--”there are lions out here, and buffalo, snakes, fevers, native uprisings-- you to death with butter!”
”Do you suppose” asked Fred, ”that Lord Montdidier has no influence in London, that he--”
”I know he had influence I should have told you first, perhaps Lord Montdidier was ra that the body of an unknown, Englishman had been picked up at sea by an Arab dhoith the face too badly eaten by fish to be recognizable You may take it from me, that is Lord Montdidier's corpse”
The calm announcement was intended to surprise us, and it did, but the result surprised her
”You she-devil!” said Will ”If you and your gang have o up-stairs, and pray he isn't dead! Pray that corpse uarantee you it's the worst day's work you ever had a hand in! Go up-stairs!”