Then he continued: "I bought it in Pernambuco last December from a drunken sailor, a cook or something like that, who had run away from a wind-jammer. He didn't think much of it. It had been given him by an old woman,--at least, so he said, but more likely he stole it. I paid fifteen _milreis_ for it,--fifteen _milreis_, with the exchange at ninepence." "Put it away," said Hemming, "and keep that belt next your hide, no matter how much it galls." Hicks replaced the stone in the empty shell, and the shell in his belt. "And she thinks I haven't a cent," he whispered. "Isn't she a brick?" The Englishman leaned back, out of range of the open window, and relit his cigar. Suddenly Hicks bent forward, listening. "Did you hear that?" he said. But Hemming had heard no unusual sound, only the footsteps of their guards, and the noise of men singing at the barracks. "It's the first time I have heard an old 'Sam Peabody' in Brazil," said the American. "Who?" said Hemming, wondering if his friend's temperature had gone up again. "It's a bird, some sort of sparrow we have in the North," replied Hicks. He left the hall quietly, and hung out of a window in his own room. Presently, from the shrubbery below him, came the familiar notes again. He wet his lips with his tongue, and whistled the clear call himself. He was answered immediately. He peered down into the dim garden. The only light was that of the stars. He could see nothing. No leaf stirred in the shrubbery, and there was neither sight nor sound of the enemy on that side of the house. "If you don't intend to let us in," said a quiet voice, "you might pass out a couple of drinks." "Whiskey and soda for me," said the voice of Captain Santosa. Hicks ran down-stairs, and Hemming followed him. They unbarred a window, and Smith stood ready with his rifle at port. In crawled O'Rourke and Santosa, very wet as to clothing, but very dry inside. "The Campbells have arrived," said O'Rourke, brushing mud from his leggings. Hemming, for a moment, was dumbfounded at this unexpected appearance. "God bless you, Bertram," he said at last, and they shook hands warmly. "I thought, a few days ago, that it was chance that brought me to Brazil," said O'Rourke, "but really, little fellow, it must have been your guardian angel. What a chap you are for getting into silly messes. There seems to be a row whenever you arrive." "This row is not Hemming's fault," protested Hicks. O'Rourke and Hemming laughed happily, for both felt that, together, they could pull out of the worst scrape ever invented. "This gentleman would come," said Santosa, "and at a pace that nearly wore me to the bone." Just then Smith held a tray toward the late arrivals. "We left McPhey organizing a relief expedition to come by land," O'Rourke informed them, after quenching his thirst, "and the major, after doing his business, will bring a party up by boat,--a company or two of government troops."