"You are," chuckled Jack; "You and your friend Amir Ali. So mind you don't go asleep on duty, Chuck! I'd hate to wake up in the morning and find one of your moccasins left around to remember you by." "Never you mind about me," retorted Charlie. "I never woke up the whole camp by letting go an elephant gun at a jackal." This reminder of an earlier episode in the trip silenced Jack for the time being, but Charlie had no intention of letting himself be caught napping on duty. His watch lasted till midnight, when Amir would relieve him, and as there was no moon the boys got in a plentiful supply of wood for the fire. While the Indians were setting out the traps as usual, von Hofe departed to inspect the injured men, and Charlie seized the opportunity. "Say, General, what about that ivory cache of Mowbray's? Think we can lug it off with us?" The explorer remained silent for a moment, the boys watching him eagerly. "Look here, you chaps," he said at last, "there were two words in that letter I didn't read. Mowbray said 'ivory--_and dust_!' I was afraid you might get the gold fever, but I guess you're pretty safe. I was talking to von Hofe about it yesterday. Now, you know that we're paid by him to get elephant and nothing else. Still, the old boy is a sport clear through, and underneath his German reserve he's just as eager as any of us. If we strike the island before we strike the elephant, we'll camp on it for safety and clear out the cache." "Hurray!" exclaimed Charlie. "Bully for him! Say, we'll--" "You wait, Chuck," interrupted Jack quickly. "Look here, Gen'ral, it ain't so simple. Those Arabs with the camels got clear away. Selim ben Amoud ain't a man to let Mowbray stick alone down here, not by a jugfull. I'll bet you that we'll find a bunch of Selim's men there with Selim himself. He was no slouch, that guy." Schoverling's face clouded. "You've struck the nail on the head, Jack. That thought occurred to me also. Well, if he's there then we'll have to keep away and stick to the rogue. But if we get there first--by thunder, I'll load that cache into the wagon and get out with the elephant!" "Still, in a way it belongs to him--" began Charlie, but the explorer grunted. "Rot! His expedition lost out. Mowbray directed his letter to me or Selim, and said nothing about splitting up. Whoever gets there first lands the loot, that's flat. If it belonged to anyone, it belonged to the original bunch of slavers. However, we're counting our chickens a long while before the incubator's opened. When we get there it's time enough."