Page:Cornelia Meigs--The Pool of Stars.djvu/129

 The dusky visitor shrugged his shoulders and slipped one sleek hand within his satin robe.

"The American Captain wishes further persuasion," he said with a sly grin. "I have something here for himself alone, which will perhaps make him more generous."

He drew out a handful of gold coins and laid them upon the table, looked at Humphrey narrowly and, seeing no signs of yielding, sighed deeply and drew out another and another. He piled them up in little shining heaps and stood gazing, with an expectant smile across at the American. But, since Humphrey did not put out a hand to take them he broke forth petulantly—

"In the name of the Prophet, is not that enough? You grasping Yankees would have everything! These are not African coins, man, but good English sovereigns, French louis d'or, Spanish doubloons such as you can spend like water anywhere you go. And all in exchange for one small thing upon which my master has set his heart. Come, you drive a hard bargain."

"I drive no bargain for what does not belong to me, to be paid for in stolen coin," Humphrey answered hotly. "Do you think that I do not know that your pirate vessels have brought in this gold; that, for each of those heaps of coin, there has probably been a good ship sent to the bottom,