The Treasure of the Incas | Page 5

with foul
winds, it is a comfort."
"Well, go on smoking," his brother said. "I will light up too. Now shut
your mouth altogether. I want to think."
They were silent for fully ten minutes, then Harry said;
"I told you about that business of mine with Miss Fortescue."
Bertie grinned all over his face, which, as he sat, was not visible to his
brother. Then with preternatural gravity he turned towards him.
"Yes, you told me about it; an uncomfortable business wasn't it?--surly
old father, lovely daughter, and so on."
"I will pull your ear for you, you young scamp," Harry said wrathfully,
"if you make fun of it; and I have a good mind not to say what I was
going to."
"Say it, Harry, don't mind my feelings," the lad said. "You can't say I
did not stand it well when I was here last week, and gave you no end of
sympathy. Go ahead, old fellow; I dare say I shall be taken bad some
day, and then I shall be able to make allowances for you."
"I'll have nothing more to say to you, you young imp."
"Don't say that, Harry," the lad said in a tone of alarm. "You know how
sympathizing I am, and I know what a comfort it is for you to unburden
yourself; but I do think that it won't be necessary to go into personal
descriptions, you know, or to tell me what you said to her or she said to
you, because you told me all that ten days ago, also what her tyrannical
old father said. But really seriously I am awfully sorry about it all, and
if there is anything that I can possibly do for you I shall be only too
pleased. I don't see that it would be any advantage for me to go and

give the old gentleman my opinion of him; but if you think it would,
and can coach me in some of his sore points, we might see how we
could work upon them."
"I always thought you were a young ass, Bertie," Harry said sternly,
"but I have not realized before how utterly assified you are."
"All right, Harry!" the lad said cheerfully; "hit me as hard as you like,
under the circumstances I feel that I cannot kick."
Harry said nothing for another five minutes.
"This is a serious matter," he said at last, "and I don't want any
tomfoolery."
"All right, Harry! I will be as serious as a judge."
"I am thinking of going away for two years."
The lad turned half round in his chair and had a good look at his
brother.
"Where are you going to?" seeing by Harry's rather gloomy face that he
was quite in earnest.
"I believe I am going to Peru."
"What are you going there for, Harry?" the lad said quietly.
"I told you," the other went on, "that Mr. Fortescue said that he had no
personal objection to me, but that if I was in a position to give his
daughter a home equal to that which I wanted her to leave, he would be
content."
Bertie nodded.
"This seemed to me hopeless," Harry went on. "I told you that she was
willing to wait for two years, but that she couldn't promise much longer
than that, for her father had set his mind on her making a good match;

he has certainly put a tremendous pressure upon her. When I was
talking at the club this evening to Mr. Barnett--you know that he is our
oldest friend and is one of our trustees--I told him about it, and said that
though I was ready to do anything and go anywhere I could not see my
way at all to making a big fortune straight away. He agreed with me.
After talking it over he said he knew of but one way by which such a
thing would be at all possible, but the betting would be twenty
thousand to one against it. Of course I said that if there was even a
possibility I would try it. Well, you know he was in Peru for some
years. He says that the natives have all sorts of legends about rich
mines that were hidden when the Spaniards came first, and that it is
certain that, tremendous as was the amount of loot they got, a great part
of the Incas' treasure was hidden away. Once or twice there had been
great finds-in one case two million and a half dollars. It is believed that
the secret is still known to certain Indians. When he went out there he
had a muleteer, whose life he saved when he was attacked by some
beast or other, and this man as much