"Quite reasonable," accepted Kennedy. "Peru for the Peruvians. Yet
there seems to be such untold wealth in the country that taking
out even quite large sums would not begin to exhaust the natural
resources."
"But they are ours, they belong to us," hastened de Moche, then
caught the drift of Kennedy's remarks, and was on his guard.
"Buried treasure, like that which you call the Gold of the Gods,
is always fascinating," continued Kennedy. "The trouble with such
easy money, however, is that it tends to corrupt. In the early
days history records its taint. And I doubt whether human nature
has changed much under the veneer of modern civilization. The
treasure seems to leave its trail even as far away as New York. It
has at least one murder to its credit already."
"There has been nothing but murder and robbery from the time that
the peje chica was discovered," asserted the young man sadly. "You
are quite right."
"Truly it would seem to have been cursed," added Craig. "The
spirit of Mansiche must, indeed, watch over it. I suppose you know
of the loss of the old Inca dagger from the University Museum and
that it was that with which Don Luis was murdered?"
It was the first time Kennedy had broached the subject to de
Moche, and I watched closely to see what was its effect.
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