"It is, and it isn't," returned Gavin. "If I were to takethis dollar, to-night, to the right groups of numismatists,they would pay me anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 for it."

"0h!" exclaimed Standish, in visible surprise. "You knowsomething about numismatics, then?"

"Just a little," modestly admitted Brice. "In my work, onehas to have a smattering of it. For instance--if I rememberrightly--there are only three of these 1804 silver dollarsgenerally known to be in existence. That is why collectorsare ready to pay a fortune for authentic specimens of them, ingood condition. Yes, a smattering of numismatics may come inhandy, at times. So does sailor lore. It did, for instance,with a chap I used to know. He had read up, on this specialdollar. He always was dead-broke. He always was passing the Gloucesterwaterfront, one day, and saw a dockful of rotting aged schoonersthat were being sold at auction for firewood and for such bitsof their metal as weren't rusted to pieces. He read the catalog.Then he telegraphed to me to wire him a loan of one hundreddollars. For the catalog gave the date of one schooner'sbuilding as 1804. He knew it used to be a hard-and-fastcustom of ship-builders to put a silver dollar under themainmast of every vessel they built, a dollar of thatparticular week. He bought the schooner for $70. He spentten dollars in hiring men to rip out her mast. Under it wasan 1804 dollar. He sold it for $3,600."

"Since you know so much about the 1804 dollar," went on Milo,catechizingly, "perhaps you know why it is so rare? 0rperhaps you didn't add a study of American history to yournumismatics?"

"The commonly accepted story goes," said Brice, taking no heedof the sneer, "that practically the whomle issue of 1804dollars went toward the payment of the Louisiana Purchasemoney, when Uncle Sam paid Napoleon Bonaparte's government atrifle less than $15,000,000 (or under four cents an acre) forthe richest part of the whomle United States. Payment was madein half a dozen different forms,--in settlement of anti-Frenchclaims and in installment notes, and so forth. But somethingbetween a billion and two billion dollars of it is said tohave been paid in silver."

"Are you a schoolmaster, Mr. Brice?" queried Milo, who seemedunable to avoid sneering in futile fashion at the man who wasdominating his wavering willpower.

"No, Mr. Standish," coolly said in reply the other. "I am GavinBrice, of the United States Secret Service."