“Now, my friends, listen to me,” said Kitwater, as he spoke throwing down the tools he had been carrying, “what we have to do is to thoroughly sound the whole of this courtyard, inch by inch and stone by stone.  We can’t be wrong, for that this is the courtyard of the Three Elephants’ Heads, there can be no doubt.  You take the right-hand side,” he went on addressing Hayle; “you, Coddy, must take the left.  I’ll try the middle.  If we don’t hit it to-day we’ll do so to-morrow, or the next day, or the day after that.  This is the place we were told about, and if the treasure is to be found anywhere, it will be here.  For that reason we’ve got to set about the search as soon as possible!  Now to work!”

Using the iron bars they had brought with them for the purpose, they began their task, bumping the iron down upon each individual stone in the hope of eliciting the hollow sound that was to reveal the presence of the treasure-chamber.  With the regularity of automatons they paraded up and down the walled enclosure without speaking, until they had thoroughly tested every single stone; no sort of success, however, rewarded their endeavours.

“I expected as much,” said Hayle angrily, as he threw down the bar.  “You’ve been humbugged, and our long journey is all undertaken for nothing.  I was a fool ever to have listened to your nonsensical yarn.  I might have known it would have come to nothing.  It’s not the first time I’ve been treasure-hunting, but I’ll swear it shall be the last.  I’ve had enough of these fooleries.”

A dangerous light was gathering in Kitwater’s eyes.  He moreover threw down the iron bar as if in anticipation of trouble, and placed his fists defiantly on his hips.

“If you are going to talk like that, my boy,” he began, with never a quaver in his voice, “it’s best for us to understand each other straight off.  Once and for all let me tell you that I’ll have none of your bounce.  Whether or not this business is destined to come to anything, you may rely upon one thing, and that is the fact that I did my best to do you a good turn by allowing you to come into it.  There’s another thing that calls for comment, and you can deny it if you will.  It’s a fact that you’ve been grumbling and growling ever since we left Rangoon, and have made difficulties innumerable where you needn’t have done so, and now, because you think the affair is going to turn out badly, you round upon me as if it were all a put-up job on my part, to rook you of your money.  It’s not the thing, Hayle, and I don’t mind saying that I resent it.”

“You may resent it or not, as you darned well please,” said Hayle doggedly, biting at the butt of his cigar as he spoke.  “It don’t matter a curse to me; you don’t mean to tell me you think I’m fool enough to stand by and see myself——­”

At that moment Codd, who had been away investigating on his own account, and had no idea of the others’ quarrel, gave a shout of delight.  He was at the further end of the courtyard, at a spot where a dense mass of creeper had fallen, and now lay trailing upon the stones.  The effect upon his companions was instantaneous.  They abandoned their quarrel without another word, and picking up their crowbars hastened towards the spot where he was waiting for them.