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Updated: June 9, 2025
More cautiously now, and keeping well away from the man's actual spoor, Dick crept up the slope, and peered over the crest down the farther side. The moon at that moment shone out clearly, and there, not fifty yards away from him, Dick could see the figure of Grosman the prospector.
The big wachtmeister rubbed his throttled throat feelingly, and grunted dissent, whilst the accused and desperate quartette broke into angry protestations. "Deny it as you like," said the professor, "Grosman swore it with his dying breath, Junes swore it after he had shot him, Sydney saw the salting with his own eyes."
Now, however, the whole camp was astir; the old professor was washing in front of his tent in the tiny modicum of water allowed him for the purpose, boys were hurrying here and there preparing breakfast; and Dick smiled grimly as he noticed that as Junes and Grosman entered the experts' tent they carefully closed the fly behind them.
Luckily Dick old hand on the plains of countries where it is not considered healthy to be found on the home trail of a man one watches at night had taken the precaution to crawl aside sufficiently to give this "Knave of diamonds" a wide berth; and he lay inert and silent as the dead till Grosman was well on his homeward journey, before following him to a well-earned spell of sleep.
"Why should we steal them, why believe the tale of this thief who owns he meant to steal them, why believe him against us?" they demanded, united again now, in their efforts to discredit Grosman. "One at a time," said the wachtmeister angrily, "and silence, you others." And he proceeded to catechize and badger them one by one, filling page after page of his notebook with their replies.
And still Grosman knelt upon his slighter opponent, and still he gasped curses and questions; keeping so tight a grip upon Junes' throat that his eyes were starting from his head and he could scarce breathe, much less answer. "Here loosen him a bit!" said Dick, grasping the big man by the shoulder. "Do you hear? You'll choke the man and how the blazes can he answer you when you hold him like that?
Then blowing a whistle, he summoned the camp boys who, in mortal fear of the police, had obeyed their first order to remain with the horses some distance away; and who would have seen the white men kill each other till none were left, before daring to disobey that order and told them harshly to bury Grosman, and prepare to strike camp and trek immediately.
And Grosman and I thought they deserved to be robbed, and we intended doing so to-night. But one of these swine must have thought of the same game, and hid the stones somewhere. Own up, you cowardly blighters which of you has taken them where are they?
Gilderman answered nothing, but if looks could have killed the old professor, who did not even look at him, and Dick, who grinned maliciously full in his face, both of them would have preceded Grosman. Just then a faint shot sounded in the direction of the pursuit. It was followed by another and another . . . then a regular fusillade.
"He has them, the hound," said Grosman, "we had arranged, schwein- hund," he yelled again, "it was to have been to-morrow night and you have stolen them from me; where have you buried them?" "Come off it," said Dick savagely for Junes was again choking and this time he twisted Grosman's arm till he freed the under man's throat. "Now then, Junes what have you got to say?"
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