“Forgive me,” cried Kathlyn, penitent, for she knew she had done wrong.  “I did not think.  But Umballa?”

“Yes, Umballa.  One of the keepers found a knife by that bridge, and Ramabai identified it as belonging to Umballa.  Whether he is alone or with many, I do not know; but this I do know:  we must under no circumstances become separated again.  Now, I’m going to quiz the chief.”

But the chief said that no person described had passed or been seen.  No one but a holy man had come that morning, and he had gone to the island in the sloop.

“For what?”

The chief smiled, but shook his head.

“Was it not a basket of gold and precious stones?” demanded the colonel.

The chief’s eyes widened.  There were others who knew, then?  Bruce noticed his surprise.

“Colonel, show the good chief the royal seal on your document.”

The colonel did so, and the chief salaamed when he saw the royal signature.  He was mightily bewildered, and gradually he was made to understand that he had been vilely tricked.

“To the boats!” he shouted, as if suddenly awakening.  “We may be too late, Lords!  He said he was a holy man, and I believed.”

They all ran hastily down to the beach to seize what boats they could.  Here they met a heartrending obstacle in the refusal of the owners.  The chief, however, signified that it was his will; and, moreover, he commanded that the fishermen should handle the oars.  They would be paid.  That was different.  Why did not the white people say so at once?  They would go anywhere for money.  Not the most auspicious sign, thought Ramabai.  They got into the boats and pushed off.

On the way to the island the colonel consulted the map, or diagram, he held in his hand.  It was not possible that Umballa knew the exact spot.

A filigree basket of silver, filled with gold and gems!  The man became as eager and excited as a boy.  The instinct to hunt for treasure begins just outside the cradle and ends just inside the grave.

To return to Umballa.  Upon landing, he asked at once if any knew where the cave was.  One man did know the way, but he refused to show it.  There were spirits there, ruled by an evil god.

“Take me there, you, and I will enter without harm.  Am I not holy?”

That put rather a new face upon the situation.  If the holy man was willing to risk an encounter with the god, far be it that they should prevent him.  An ordinary seeker would not have found the entrance in a lifetime.  Umballa had not known exactly where the cave was, but he knew all that the cave contained.  When they came to it Umballa sniffed; the tang of sulphur became evident both in his nose and on his tongue.  He understood.  It was simply a small spring, a mineral, in which sulphur predominated.  He came out with some cupped in his hands.  He drank and showed them that it was harmless.  Besides, he was a holy man, and his presence made ineffectual all evil spirits which might roam within the cave.