He hesitated so long that Trent was actually disappearing before he
had made up his mind.

"Come back, Mr. Trent," he called out. "I have decided. I accept.
I join with you."

Trent slowly returned. His manner showed no exultation.

"You have the money here?" he asked.

Da Souza laid down a heap of notes and gold upon the table. Trent
counted them carefully and thrust them into his pocket. Then he
took up a pen and wrote his name at the foot of the assignment which
the Jew had prepared.

"Have a drink?" he asked.

Da Souza shook his head.

"The less we drink in this country," he said, "the better. I guess
out here, spirits come next to poison. I'll smoke with you, if you
have a cigar handy."

Trent drew a handful of cigars from his pocket. "They're beastly,"
he said, "but it's a beastly country. I'll be glad to turn my back
on it."

"There is a good deal,"Da Souza said, "which we must now talk
about."