What does money look like? Is it
round or--?"
Johnnie produced from his pocket a handful of coins.
Branch's eyes bulged, he touched a gold piece respectfully,
weighed it carefully, then pressed it to his lips. He rubbed it
against his cheeks and in his hair; he placed it between his teeth
and bit it.
"It's REAL!" he cried. "Now let me look at the jewels."
"Rosa has them. She's wearing them on her back. Hunched backs are
lucky, you know; hers is worth a fortune."
"Why, this beats the Arabian Nights!" Norine gasped.
"It beats--" Branch paused, then wagged his head warningly at the
girl. "I don't believe a word of it and you mustn't. Johnnie read
this story on his yachting-trip. It couldn't happen. In the first
place there isn't any more money in the world; mints have quit
coining it. Why, if I wrote such a yarn--"
"It IS almost unbelievable," Johnnie acknowledged. "I found
Aladdin's cave, but"--his face paled and he stirred uneasily--"it
was nearly the death of all of us. I'll have to tell you the whole
story now; I've only told you the half."
While his hearers listened, petrified with amazement and doubting
their ears, he recited the incidents of that unforgettable night
on La Cumbre: how Cobo came, and of the trap he sprung; how Jacket
stole upon the assassin while he knelt, and of the blow he struck.
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