It would seem that Guy Oscard, in his thick-headed way, was conscious of this mystery in the air; for he had not been two hours in Msala before he asked "Who is that woman ?" and received the reply which has been recorded.
After dinner they passed out on to the little terrace overlooking the river, and it was here that the great Simiacine scheme was pieced together.

It was here beneath the vast palm trees that stood like two beacons towering over the surrounding forest, that three men deliberately staked their own lives and the lives of others against a fortune.

Nature has a strange way of hiding her gifts.

Many of the most precious have lain unheeded for hundreds of years in barren plains, on inaccessible mountains, or beneath the wave, while others are thrown at the feet of savages who know no use for them.
The man who had found the Simiacine was eager, restless, full of suspicion.

To the others the scheme obviously presented itself in a different light.