Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/335

 "What should we do with them, my poor Joe?" said the Scot, who could not help smiling. "We did not come here to make our fortune, and we ought not to bring it back with us."

"These millions are too heavy," replied the doctor, "and not easily carried in the pocket."

"But," said Joe, driven to his last intrenchments, "why cannot we carry this mineral as ballast, instead of sand?"

"Well, I have no objection to that," said Ferguson; "but don't you feel disappointed when we have to throw some thousands of pounds overboard."

"Thousands of pounds!" repeated Joe. "Is it possible that there is so much gold?"

"Yes, my friend; this is a reservoir in which Nature has amassed her treasure for centuries. There is sufficient here to enrich whole countries—an Australia and a California united at the bottom of a desert."

"And all that will remain useless?"

"Perhaps so. In any case, listen to what I propose for your consolation."

"That will be difficult to accomplish," replied Joe, with a grieved air.

"Listen. I will take the exact bearings of this place, I will make you a present of it, and on your return to England you can share with your friends—if you think so much gold will make them happy."

"Let us go, sir; I see you are right—I give up, since I must. Let us fill the car with this precious mineral. What remains at the termination of the journey will be so much gained."

So Joe set to work with a will. He soon collected about 1,000 lbs. of quartz fragments, in which the gold was embedded as if in a vein of great thickness.

The doctor watched him with a smile; during this work he took the levels and found the bearings of the tomb of the missionary were 22° 23' long. and 4° 55' N. lat. Then, casting a last look at the spot where the poor Frenchman lay, he approached the balloon. He had wished to erect a modest yet substantial cross upon the tomb thus abandoned in the midst of African wilds, but not a tree was to be seen in the neighborhood.

"God will know where to find it," he muttered.