The Treasure of the Bucoleon
9781465648860
211 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
The messenger was peering at the card above the push-button beside the apartment entrance as I came up the stairs. "Chesby?" he said laconically, extending a pink envelope. "He lives here," I answered. "I'll sign for it." The boy clumped off downstairs, and I let myself in, never dreaming that I held the key to destiny in my hand—or, rather, in the pink envelope. A samovar was bubbling in the studio, and my cousin Betty King hailed me from the couch on which she sat between her father and Hugh. "Here you are at last," she cried. "Dad and I have come to say good-by to you." "What's the matter?" I asked. "Can't you stand Hugh any longer?" Hugh glowered at me. "Always raggin'," he commented. Betty laughed. "We are going to Constantinople to hunt for Greek manuscripts." "I have a theory," explained my uncle, Vernon King, "that the upheavals of the war and the occupation of the city by Christian garrisons should be productive of rich opportunities for bibliophiles like myself, aside from an enhanced chance for archæological research." "Well, I wish you luck," I grumbled. "And I wish I was not tied down to an architect's drawing-board." "'Matter of fact, I'm about fed up with Wall Street," growled Hugh. "Nobody can make money any more." "It's very funny," remarked Betty. "Both you and Jack announced when you settled down after the war, Hugh, that nothing could ever root you up again. All you wanted, you said, was a good job and plenty of hard work." "I know it," admitted Hugh. "I remember Nash, here, and Nikka Zaranko—" "You mean the famous Gypsy violinist?" interrupted my uncle, who, I ought to say, uses the millions he receives from his oil-holdings to patronize the arts and sciences. "Yes, sir. He was in the Foreign Legion durin' the war. We all met in the last big push in Flanders. I went in with my battalion to help out Jack's crowd, and was snowed under with them. Then Nikka tried to extricate both outfits, and the upshot was the Aussies finally turned the trick. Some show! "Well, we three became pals. What I was going to say was that the last time we got together before demobilization we agreed we never wanted to feel the threat of danger again. We wanted to become rich and prosperous and fat and contented. That was why I came over to New York with Jack, instead of staying home and fighting with my uncle."
