"And your references?" questioned the man named Palmer.
"I have the names and addresses here. I am widely and honorably known throughout Manila and Hong Kong, as you will soon learn."
"Oh, what nerve!" murmured Dan.
"You were certainly well introduced," observed Paul Carson, the other American.
"Why don't you go into this scheme alone?" asked John Palmer. "I don't think I would be in for sharing such a good thing with others."
"That's where he is level-headed," I whispered.
"But Oliver has taken us into his scheme," answered Dan.
"Oh, that's—well, it's different."
"Of course it is," said Oliver quickly. "We are the closest of friends, and this search may prove fruitless."
"I'll wager it's a surer thing than old Delverez's scheme," retorted Dan, and there we stopped to listen again.
"I cannot manage the scheme alone—I must have American citizens to represent the company. You, I feel sure, are legal citizens, are you not?"
"I am—a native of California," answered John Palmer.
"And I am a native of Chicago, Ill.," put in Paul Carson.
