; `and here,' I said, `is an accurate description of
the place where this treasure lies and a map of the route to it,'
and I put my hand on the other.
"'Now,' I went on, `I believe every word of this thing. Charles
Tavor is the best all-round explorer in the world. I've known
him a lifetime and what he says goes with me. We'll put up this
bunch of stuff with a stakeholder for the term of a year, and if
the gold isn't there and if the map showing the route to it isn't
correct and if every word I've said about it isn't precisely the
truth, you take down my bonds and keep them.'
"Old Nute got up and walked about the room. I knew what he was
thinking. `Here's another one of them - there's all kinds.'
"But it hooked him. We wrote out the terms and put the stuff up
with old Commodore Harris - the straightest sport in America.
Nute had the right to copy the map, and the text and a year to
verify it. And I took the ten thousand back to Charlie Tavor."
Barclay got up and went over to the window. He drew back the
heavy tapestry curtains. It was morning; the blue dawn was
beginning to illumine Monaco and the polished arc of the sea.
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