It would
render impossible a systematic search for that treasure, for that wealth
of silver which he seemed to feel somewhere about, to scent somewhere
near.
But where? Where? Heavens! Where? Oh! why had he allowed that doctor
to go! Imbecile that he was. But no! It was the only right course, he
reflected distractedly, while the messenger waited downstairs chatting
agreeably to the officers. It was in that scoundrelly doctor's true
interest to return with positive information. But what if anything
stopped him? A general prohibition to leave the town, for instance!
There would be patrols!
The colonel, seizing his head in his hands, turned in his tracks as if
struck with vertigo. A flash of craven inspiration suggested to him an
expedient not unknown to European statesmen when they wish to delay a
difficult negotiation. Booted and spurred, he scrambled into the hammock
with undignified haste. His handsome face had turned yellow with the
strain of weighty cares. The ridge of his shapely nose had grown sharp;
the audacious nostrils appeared mean and pinched.
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