Hamar had read so far when, with a gesture of impatience, he closed the book.  “What a fool I am!” he exclaimed, “to waste my time with such stuff!...  But Maitland writes in such a devilish convincing way!  Jerusalem!  Any straw is good enough for the drowning man, and if witchcraft and sorcery with motors dashing by every second and the whole air alive with wireless and telephones, is a bit beyond my comprehension, what then?  All I care about is money—­and I’ll leave no stone unturned to get it.  If it were possible for man to get in touch with Daramara—­the Unknown—­Devil, or whatever else it chooses to call itself—­I’ll call it an angel if it only gives me money—­twenty thousand years ago—­why shouldn’t it be possible to get in touch with it now?  Anyhow as I said before, I’ll have a try.  As far as the preliminary stage is concerned, I fancy I’m pretty well fixed.  My mind is occupied right enough with things of this world—­I don’t give a cent for anything belonging to another—­and if only I had half a dozen souls, I’d sell them right away now, for less than twenty thousand dollars—­a damned sight less.  As for these tests—­foolish isn’t the word for them—­but it won’t cost much just to try them....  Now, according to Thomas Maitland, the ceremony of calling up the Unknown stands a far greater chance of success if there are three human beings present ... but, of course, if there is any truth in this business, I’d rather keep the secret of it to myself.  However, if I try alone, the Unknown may not come to me, and then I shall have had all the trouble of going through the tests for nothing!...  Ah! now I see!  If the other two get more of the profits than I think necessary—­I can make use of my newly acquired Occult Power to—­to dissolve partnership!  Ha! ha!  I could—­I could trick the Unknown if it comes to that.  Trust a Jew to outwit the Devil!  I’ll just look up Kelson and—­Curtis.”

FOOTNOTES: 

  [Footnote 1:  The river referred to by Maitland is the river
  Lagartos, which was then (1691) unnamed.]

  [Footnote 2:  For chiche compare the ancient Maya or Yucatan word
  Chicken-Itza (i.e. name of town in Yucatan where excavations are
  now taking place—­1912).]

  [Footnote 3:  For Menes compare Mayan Menes, wise men.]

  [Footnote 4:  Compare Mayan Chaac-mol, a leopard.]

  [Footnote 5:  Compare Ozil, Mayan for well-beloved.]

  [Footnote 6:  Moo, Mayan for Macaw.]

  [Footnote 7:  Nike, woman’s name in Mayan.]

  [Footnote 8:  Recent (1912) discoveries of statues in Easter Island
  still further corroborate the sinking of Atlantis.

The Atlantean character [C] resembles the Easter Island [C] (C)
"         "     [O]     "        "      "       [O] (O)
"         "     [E]     "        "      "       [E] (E)
"         "     [Z]     "        "      "       [Z] (Z)

  It will be noticed that all the Atlantean characters are
  distinguished by additional curling strokes.]