Yes, Valentin," continued Newman, pressing his friend's arm genially, "I think I see just the opening for you.

Keep quiet and I'll push you right in." Newman pursued this favoring strain for some time longer.

The two men strolled about for a quarter of an hour.

Valentin listened and questioned, many of his questions making Newman laugh loud at the naivete of his ignorance of the vulgar processes of money-getting; smiling himself, too, half ironical and half curious.

And yet he was serious; he was fascinated by Newman's plain prose version of the legend of El Dorado.