“That may be all so,” commented Jefferson Arnold. “But I didn’t take much stock in this second sight, or whatever you call it. That sort of thing doesn’t go in business; I know that.” So matter-of-fact a person as the millionaire, who had made his money by plain hard-headedness and commercial acumen, was not likely to make much belief in, or patience with, the occultism of the East. He was not ashamed of his skepticism, either. “Yet will I prove that my words are true,” was Jai Singh’s dignified rejoinder. “We shall soon meet men of the Golden Scarab.” As he said this, he skillfully brought the boat to a stop in the shallow water near the shore, and jumping in, followed by his four oarsmen, pulled at the craft till it was firmly fixed in the soft mud of the bank. With the four men to help, the labor had been nothing. “This is as far as we go on the river,” announced Jai Singh. “Now we walk. Will the sahib give orders to the men?” Nick Carter nodded and directed the oarsmen to line up in front of him. Adil, without being told, took his place by the side of the oarsmen. “Not you, Adil,” put in Jefferson Arnold. “I go with the others,” returned Adil briefly. “I must find Sahib Leslie, and yonder is the way.” “You shall go, of course,” Nick Carter told him. “But not all these four men. Some of them must be left behind, and I am going to find out which ones by drawing straws. It is a custom in my country. You may stand with my two young men from America.” He indicated Chick and Patsy Garvan, and Adil willingly enough took his position by their side. “What about these others?” asked Jefferson Arnold. “If they can fight as well as they row, they’ll be useful fellows to take with us.” “I’m going to talk to them,” replied Nick. Then, turning to the four oarsmen, he began: “We go yonder, across the mountains, to find the white man who has been taken away. You know that?” They bowed with the native dignity of all men of their race and muttered an unintelligible assent. Nick continued: “It is a strange country, and the men there are fierce and cruel. They have strange worship, and their gods are not yours. Whether we will come out of that country alive no one can say. It is possible that the white man who went into the forests with Sahib Arnold may have taken him into the strange land beyond the mountains, and that he will tell the men of the Golden Scarab enough about us to give them power we cannot beat.” “Not by a jugful!” interrupted Patsy Garvan. “I’ll bet we lick them if ever we get within striking distance. That’s a cinch.” “We will all go,” said one of the oarsmen. “It is not necessary to draw lots. We will save the young sahib.” “I knew it!” exclaimed Patsy. “Those boys are the goods, if they _are_ the color of an old tan shoe.” But Nick Carter shook his head. “Only two can go. The other two must stay and take care of the boat and what is in it till we get back.”