The Baron cut him short, stipulating sternly that he must forget what had happened. Then he turned to Royson.
"If you think we can leave the fellow on the ground with safety, I want to reach the yacht," he said.
"Are you wounded?" inquired d.i.c.k.
"Slightly. Those scoundrels did not dare to strike home. They knew my papers would identify them."
"But they robbed you?"
"No, not of anything valuable. Why do you ask?"
"Because you sang out to one of them, an Italian, I should judge--"
"Ah, you heard that? You are, indeed, quick in an emergency. Can we go on, yes?"
"Certainly. I will just lift our dazed friend into the victoria, and tell the _cocher_ to give him a gla.s.s of cognac at the first cafe he comes to."
This was done. Five minutes later, the first and second officers of the _Aphrodite_ a.s.sisted their employer up the yacht"s gangway. Leaving Tagg to explain to Stump what had happened, Royson took von Kerber to his cabin, and helped to remove his outer clothing. A superficial wound on the neck, and a somewhat deeper cut on the right forearm, were the only injuries; the contents of a medicine chest, applied under von Kerber"s directions, soon staunched the flow of blood.
"I do not wish anything to be said about this affair," began the Baron, when Royson would have left him.
"Tagg must have given the captain full details already," said d.i.c.k.
"But did he hear that name, Alfieri?"
"I think not."
"And he would not understand, about the--er--doc.u.ment?"
"The papyrus," suggested Royson.
"Yes."
"No. I don"t suppose he would understand the word In English, whereas you spoke French."
"Ah, yes, of course. Well, that is between you and me. Will you ask Captain Stump and Mr. Tagg to join as in a bottle of wine? I would put matters in my own way, yes?"
The Baron, after a slight hesitancy, made his wishes clear. Mr.
Fenshawe and his party would arrive at Ma.r.s.eilles by the _train de luxe_ next morning, and preparations must be made for instant departure as soon as they came on board. They would be alarmed needlessly if told of the affray on the quay, so it was advisable that nothing should be said about it.
"You see," purred the Baron affably, refilling the gla.s.ses which Stump and Tagg had emptied at a gulp, "ladies, especially young ones, are apt to be nervous."
"Have we wimmen aboard this trip?" growled Stump in a deep rumble of disapproval.
"Ladies, yes. Two, and a maid."
Stump bore round on his chief.
"Wot did I tell ye, Tagg?" he demanded fiercely, "Didn"t I say that them fixins aft meant no good?"
"You did," agreed Tagg, with equal asperity.
Von Kerber caught the laughter in d.i.c.k"s eyes, and checked the angry protest ready to bubble forth.
"The two _ladies_," he said, speaking with an emphasis which strove to cloak his annoyance at Stump"s offhanded manner, "are Miss Fenshawe, granddaughter of the gentleman who owns this yacht, and her companion, Mrs. Haxton. Without their presence this trip would not have been undertaken, and that fact had better be recognized at the outset. But now, gentlemen, I have come on ahead to have a quiet talk with you.
Captain Stump knows our destination, but none of you is aware of the object of our voyage. I propose to take you fully into my confidence in that respect. By this time, you have become more or less acquainted with the crew, and, if you think any of the men are unsuitable, we must get rid of them at once."
He paused, and looked at Stump. That broad-beamed navigator emptied his gla.s.s again, and gazed into it fixedly, apparently wondering why champagne was so volatile a thing. Tagg followed the skipper"s example, but fixed his eyes on the bottle, perhaps in calculation. Royson, deeming it wise to hold his tongue, contented himself with closing the medicine chest, and thus making it possible for von Kerber to sit down.
The latter was obviously ill at ease. Although he was the master of these three men, he was their inferior in individual strength of character. But he was a polished man of the world, and he promptly extricated himself from a difficult position, though Royson, at least, detected the effort he was compelled to make.
"I see you are thinking that one bottle does not go far among four of us, Mr. Tagg," he exclaimed, with a pleasantly patronizing air. "Kindly tell the steward to bring another, Mr. King. And some cigars. Then we can discuss matters at our ease. And will you make sure that we are not overheard? What I have to say is meant for the ship"s officers alone at this moment, though, when the time for action comes, every man on board must be with us absolutely."
d.i.c.k summoned the steward, and ascertained that the watch were quietly chatting and smoking forward, whereas the Baron"s stateroom was situated aft. The delay enabled von Kerber to collect his thoughts.
When he resumed the promised disclosure, his voice was under control, and he spoke with less constraint.
"It is probable that you gentlemen are not familiar with the history of Egypt," he said, "but you may take it from me that the facts I now lay before you are accurate. At one time, about the beginning of the Christian era, the Romans were all-powerful in the Nile delta. They pushed their stations a long way south, almost to the borders of Abyssinia, but it is important, to remember that they followed the lines of the river, not the sea. In the year 24 B.C., the Roman Governor, hearing of the great wealth of a people called the Sabaeans, whose country lay in Arabia, in the hinterland of Mocha and Aden, sent an expedition there under the command of Aelius Gallus. This legion is historically reported to have met with reverses. That is true, in the sense that its galleys were beset by a terrible storm on the return voyage. Though the Red Sea is usually a fair-weather lake, you can have a stiff blow there at times, I believe, Captain Stump?"
Thus appealed to, Stump had to open his mouth.
"I"ve known it blow like sin," he said. "Isn"t that so, Tagg?"
"Wuss nor sin, cap"n. Ord"nary manslaughter isn"t in it with a nor"- east gale on a dark night off them islands north o" Perim."
"Exactly," agreed the Baron eagerly. "That is where the Roman triremes were caught. They were driven ash.o.r.e in a little bay in what is now Italian territory. Their vessels were wrecked, but they saved the loot they had taken from the Sabaeans. The nature and value of that loss can hardly be estimated in these days, but you can draw your own conclusions when you learn that the city of Saba is more familiar to us under its Biblical name, Sheba. It was thence that the famous queen came who visited Solomon. Nearly a thousand years later, when the Roman legion sacked it with fire and sword, it was at the height of its glory."
Von Kerber, fairly launched in a recital glib on his lips, regained the dominance of manner which the att.i.tude of his subordinates had momentarily imperiled. Increased composure brought with it a certain hauteur, and he paused again--perhaps to gratify the actor"s instinct in him rather than observe the effect of his words. But the break was unfortunate. Tagg removed the cigar he was half chewing, half smoking, and said oracularly:
"The Queen o Sheba! I once knew a ship o" that name. D"ye remember her, cap"n?"
"Shall I ever forgit "er?" granted Stump, "I wish them Romans had looted _her_. W"en I was goin" down the Hooghly, she was comin" up, in tow. Her rope snapped at the wrong moment, an" she ran me on top of the James an" Mary shoal. Remember "er, d.a.m.n "er!"
The Austrian, winced at this check to his story. These stolid mariners had no imagination. He wished to enthuse them, to fire them with the vision of countless wealth, but they had side-tracked ideality for some stupid reminiscence of a collision. In a word, they did him good, and he reached the point of his narration all the more speedily.
"As I was saying," he broke in rapidly, "the expedition met with disaster by sea. It was equally unfortunate on land. The commander built a small encampment, and sent for a.s.sistance the only seaworthy vessel left to him. He waited six months, but no help came. Then he determined to march inland--to strike a bold course for the Nile--but he was soon compelled to entrench himself against the attacks of hostile tribes. The probability is that the Sabaeans had interests on the western sh.o.r.es of the Red Sea as well as in Arabia. Indeed, the Abyssinians hold the belief to this day that their kings are descended from a son of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. However that may be, Aelius Gallus buried his treasure, threw aside all useless impediments, and, like the daring soldier he was, decided in favor of attack. He fought his way for twenty marches, but was finally overthrown, with all his men, by a Nubian clan. The Romans were slain without mercy. Their conquerors knew nothing of the gold and jewels hidden in the desert three hundred miles distant, and that marvelous h.o.a.rd, gathered from Persia and India by generations of traders, has lain there for nearly two thousand years."
This time he was sure he had riveted the attention of his hearers. They would have been dull, indeed, if their wits were not stirred by the possibilities underlying that last sentence. Royson, of course, jumped to conclusions which the others were slow to reach. But Stump was not backward in summing up the facts in his own way.
"Am I right in supposin" that you know where this stuff is hid, Mr. von Kerber?" he asked, his small eyes twinkling under the strain of continuous thought.
"Yes."
"Are you positive?"
"Yes."
"Does anybody else know?"
Royson felt that the Baron did not expect this question, but the answer came promptly: