Tess contrived not to seem aware that she was being pumped.

"D'you mean that there might be alluvial gold down by the river?" she asked.

"Now, now, Mrs. Blaine!" he laughed. "You Americans are not so
ingenuous as you like to seem! Do you really expect us to believe
that your husband's purpose isn't in fact to discover the Sialpore Treasure?"

"I never heard of it."

"I suspect he hasn't told you."

"I'll bet with you, if you like," she answered. "Our contract against your
job that I know every single detail of his terms with Gungadhura!"

"Well, well,--of course I believe you, Mrs. Blaine. We're not overheard
are we?"

Not forgetful of the Princess Yasmini hidden somewhere in the house
behind her, but unsuspicious yet of that young woman's gift for garnering
facts, Tess stood up to look through the parlor window. She could see
all of the room except the rear part of the window-seat, a little more than
a foot of which was shut out of her view by the depth of the wall. A cat,
for instance, could have lain there tucked among the cushions perfectly invisible.

"None of the servants is in there," she said, and sat down again, nodding
in the direction of a gardener. "There's the nearest possible eavesdropper."

Samson had made up his mind. This was not an occasion to be actually