"I scarcely know the girl," said Gorman. "What did old Donovan want with you?"
"Wanted to charter a steamer, captain, crew and all, one of our boats. Said he was going for a cruise off the coast of Megalia and wanted a biggish ship and officers who know the Cyrenian Sea thoroughly."
"Odd fancies the Americans have," said Gorman. "However, he can pay for what he wants. If half what they say about him is true, he could buy up your whole fleet without missing the money."
"He certainly did not boggle over the figure I named."
"Certainly. Trade is dull in those parts now. As a matter of fact the _Ida_ was lying up."
Gorman pretended to yawn by way of showing how very little interest he took in the matter.
"Hope he'll enjoy the trip," he said. "Doesn't sound an attractive country by your account."
"Well," said Steinwitz, "there are some interesting things to see. There's the Island of Salissa, for instance."
Gorman was startled by the mention of Salissa. He may possibly have shown his surprise. Steinwitz went on:
"By the way, talking of Salissa, Goldsturmer told me a curious thing the other day. You know Goldsturmer, don't you?"
"Yes. He says your friend Donovan has bought the island of Salissa from that picturesque blackguard King Konrad Karl. I wonder if that can be true. Goldsturmer says he has it on the best authority."
"Those 'best authorities'," said Gorman, "are invariably liars. I have known scores of them."
"I daresay you're right," said Steinwitz; "anyhow, in this case the authority wasn't one that I should care to rely on. It was Madame Ypsilante--a very charming lady, but----"
"I wouldn't care to bet my last shilling," said Gorman, "on the truth of a statement made by Madame Ypsilante."
"In this case," said Steinwitz, "her story was a ridiculous one, absurd on the face of it. She said that the American girl wants to set up as a monarch and that Konrad Karl had sold her the right to call herself Queen of Salissa."
"Either Goldsturmer was pulling your leg," said Gorman, "or Madame was pulling his. Was she trying to get anything out of him?"
"Pearls," said Steinwitz. "There is a certain rope of pearls----"
"That accounts for the whole thing," said Gorman.
Steinwitz seemed quite satisfied that it did. But he was not inclined to drop the subject altogether.