'But you can undo some of the harm,' continued Drake, and at that Gorley
laughed. Drake stopped on the instant, and for a while there was silence
between the pair. A gray beam of light shot through a chink between the
logs, and then another and another until the darkness of the hut changed
to a vaporous twilight. Then of a sudden the notes of a bugle sounded the
reveillé. Gorley raised himself upon his elbows and thrust forward his
head. Outside he heard the rattle of arms, the chatter of voices, all the
hum of a camp astir.

'Drake,' he whispered across to the figure standing against the door,
'there's enough gold dust to make two men rich, but you shall have it all
if you let me go. You can--easily enough. It wouldn't be difficult for a
man to slip away into the forest on the march back if you gave the nod to
the sentries guarding him. All I ask for is a rifle and a belt of
cartridges. I'd shift for myself then.'

He ended abruptly and crouched, listening to the orders shouted to the
troops outside. The men were being ranged in their companies. Then the
companies in succession were marched, halted, wheeled, and halted again.
Gorley traced a plan of their evolutions with his fingers upon the floor
of the hut. The companies were formed into a square.

'Drake,' he began again, and he crawled a little way across the hut;
'Drake, do you hear what I'm saying? There's a fortune for you, mind you,
all of it; and I am the only one who can tell you where it is. I didn't
trust those black fellows--no, no,' and he wagged his head with an
attempt at an insinuating laugh. 'I had it all gathered together, and I
buried it myself at night. You gave me a chance before with nothing to
gain. Give me another; you have everything to gain this time. Drake, why