22 
LAND & WATER 
March 30, 1916 
whatever it was, between the two, was being conducted with 
vigour to judge by the gestures of Macquart. 
" See here, you fellows," cried Tillman as they ap- 
proached. " Here's something new." 
CHAPTER XIX. 
The New Move 
•■ Well," said Hull, taking his seat on the ground near 
Tillman, " What's up now ? " 
" Everything," said Tillman, " ask Macquart." 
" It's not as bad as that," said Macquart, " in fact, as 
far as I can see, things are looking better than they did 
when we knocked off work last night, but I'm beginning to 
have more than a suspicion that we have been done." 
Houghton saw Hull's big hand clench itself as it lay 
besde 'lim on the grou:id. Fearing that the Captain might 
take up the questioning of Macquart, he moved close to him 
and 1. ani^ed to nudge him unseen by the others. 
" Jt^iovv do you mean ? " he said. " Who has done 
us 
Tlic natives I believe, and be 
to them," said 
Macquart. " It's this way. When we struck nothing last night, 
when, in fact, I saw that the marking trees were gone I began to 
suspect. I began to say to myself, can it be possible that the 
stuff has been removed ? I thrashed the thing out in my 
own mind. I said to myself, fifteen years is a long while, 
can white men have been here and taken tlie stuff off ? Then 
I saw at once, arguing from common sense that — outside 
miracles — the thing could not be. No white rne.i in the 
world had track of the position of the thing but me." 
• Steady on," said Hull, speaking despite the warning 
nudges of Houghton, " wasn't you goin' round the world 
huntin' for a chap to put up money for this expedition ? 
Why, God bless my soul, you told me about the thing fower 
years ago in 'Frisco. Well, if you told it to me you told it to 
loads besides. How do you know that one of them chaps 
liasn't been to the money box ? " 
The enmity of Macquart towards the questioner shot 
out in his glance. 
■ How do I know ? I know because I wasn't such a 
complicated fool as to give any man a hint that would bring 
liim within two Imndred miles of the thing. Have 3'ou any 
more questions to ask ? Well then. I said to myself last 
night, no white man has been here, but how about natives ? 
The Papuans are out of court, they are too stupid. How 
about the Dyaks ? They're clever, 'they may have ferreted 
out the stuff, and if they did they'd know it belonged to John 
Lant and they'd maybe move it to some other place more 
safely hid than the river bank. They're full up of super- 
stitions, and if anv bad luck had been happening to them or 
if they'd been miliicky at fishing or if one of their wise women 
had -been dreaming things they might have taken it as an 
indication, if they knew the stuff was there, to move it. 
Anyhow those were my thoughts. Then to-day when I was 
yarning with Wiart I managed to liit on some news. Two 
years ago there was a big disturbance here and the Dyaks 
stopped fishing for a week. They were desperately busy 
about something, carting mat baskets through the woods. 
Wiart was very busy just then with the rubber and he didn't 
notice things mucli till towards the end of the pow-wow, when 
one day he was out prospecting in the forest and he came on 
the thing the Dvaks had been carting theit baskets to. He 
followed one of "the basket carriers to it, in fact. It was a 
sort.of-temple hut and he didn't go further for he didn't want 
to be seen prying into their affairs. He never thought that 
the stuff those chaps were carting might be gold, he thought 
it was earth from the river-side and they had some rehgious 
reason for bringing it. He thinks so still. I haven't said 
anything to make him think different. Well, I believe that's 
where the stuff is. I believe they cut the marking trees 
down, though maybe the trees fell of their own accord. 
.Anyhow, that's the position and Wiart knows wiiere that 
Imt place is in the forest, anyhow, he said he could go there 
'Mijt,. easy." 
Well," said Hull, " if he could we'd better yank him 
(.III and make him lead us there." 
" I believe there's something in this," said Houghton 
with an air of conviction, " but we must go cautiously." 
" There mayn't be anything in it at all," said Macquart. 
•• it may be a wrong scent entirely, but it's worth enquiring 
into." 
■' If it's true, our difficulty will be this," said Tilhiian. 
" If the Dyaks have hid the" stuff you may be sure they'll 
not let us take it off without a word or two." 
" And how about our Winchesters ? " cut in Houghton. 
'And our six-shooters? Seems to me the argument on 
our side will be the strongest." 
" If it comes to that," said Macquart, " I'll make the 
Dyaks do the hefting. I'll make them carry that stuff right 
down to the Barracuda and not botlier about the boat. And 
there's another point, you three are armed, I 've got nothing 
but my naked hands, if we are to carry this thing through 
we must all be a:«ned. I've got to have a gun." 
" That's perfectly right," said Houghton, " ai d you'll 
have mine the moment we touch the stuff." 
Macquart said nothing but began to fill a pipe, then he 
lit it. He seemed satisfied with Houghton's promise, at 
least, his mind seemed to have travelled to some of inn- 
subject. 
"We'd better go on digging to-night," he said, " on 
the chance that some shock of earthquake may have deepened 
the stuff, though I don't think that's very probable. Any: 
how, we'd better make plumb sure the cache is gone. I 
believe I'm right in supposing it is, but we can never be 
quite sure in this world. Then to-morrow I can fix it up 
with Wiart to take us to that place." 
" Why not call the chap out now and let's talk it over ? " 
said Hull. 
" If you like," said Macquart, " only I'd advise not. 
He suspects nothing of what we're after, and if you leave it to 
me he'll go on not suspecting tillwere dabbling our hands in 
the yellow boys." 
" You're right," said Houghton. " Hull, we'd better 
leave this thing to Macquart, he's cleverer than the whole 
of us." 
" Oh, I don't pretend to be clever," said the other, " I 
struck on the idea by chance and it was the merest chance 
that I sounded Wiart on the matter. That's all there is to 
it." 
" Well, let's say nothing more till we've had another try 
to-night," replied Houghton. " If we draw a blank then to- 
morrow we can make arrangements with Wiart." 
Half an hour later Tillman, taking Houghton for a 
stroll down to the landing stage, broke silence. 
" Do you think Macquart is in earnest ? " he asked. 
" Not a bit," replied Houghton, " he's cooking some 
dog's trick to play on us. I believe he has roped that scani]) 
of a Wiart into this scheme, as a cat's paw, of course. H„' 
intends to take us into the woods and do for us. Notice tli? 
way he made the bid for arms." 
" Yes, and vou promised him your pistol." 
" When we touched the stuff. The stuff is not in the 
woods." 
" Well, for heaven's sake, why should we go with him ? 
I'm not a funk, but when we know or suspect he's going to 
do for us, why not tackle him at once ? " 
" If he was an ordinary scoundrel, I'd put my pistol 
to his head and threaten to shoot him if he didn't show us where 
the cache was," rephed Houghton. " But he's not. The 
threat wouldn't have any effect on him simply because he'd 
rather be shot, I believe, than show that stuff to Hull. There's 
the faint chance that this yarn may be true, and that his 
plan is to get us to lielp move the stuff before doing us in, 
and there's the chance that he rnay lead us into some trap. 
Now, if I could once convict him of that and escape the trap, 
then I'd make him show us the place we want even by torturing 
him, then it would be a question of hot blood. Biit we've 
convicted him of nothing and you can't torture a man in cold 
blood — I can't. So we'll just have to lay low, not care a 
dump for danger and be ready to pounce." 
" I'll be ready to do the pouncing," said Tillman, " if I 
get tl;e chance." 
.After supper that night and just before moon-rise tiiey 
stole off again up stream to the spit. 
Four hours' digging showed no result beyond a hole in 
which, to use Hulls expression, they could have buried a 
church. Then, depressed but not dispirited, they returned to 
the tent. 
Hull and Houghton retired to rest, but Tillman, according 
to his arrangement with Houghton, slipped oif armed with a 
Winchester to keep watch on the boat. 
{To be continued.) 
Once more we arc threatened with a revival of the waist- 
coat, but this seems likely to be more general with frocks 
than with coats and skirts. A waistcoat frock can be the 
most attractive of models and in the newest form the waist- 
coat is worn over the frock itself, after the way Qf a little 
sleeveless coat. An unusually pretty frock of copper brown 
taffetas just- arrived from Paris was made after this way, the 
waistcoat being of dark purple velvet embroidered with a 
somewhat scattered design of metallic autumn leaves. 
.Acknowledgment of the wintry weather which has recently 
fallen to our lot was given by a narrow edging of fur round 
neck, sleeves and skirt. 
OKIICEKS' LE.WE liKIGIlTENED BY BILLIARDS.— As an 
indoor sport Riving endless opportunities for the exercise of skill, 
nothing igjn equal Billiards — played on a Burroughes and Watts' 
Table. I^^ascination is inexhaustible. 
