"Look at what I've found," I told him, holding out the gem in my palm.
Pearce failed to look surprised. He grinned in an embarrassed sort of way, and brought his hand from behind his back. Cupped within it were two gems similar to mine.
"Found a couple myself," he said. "I was so excited that I must have forgotten where I was. When I heard you coming, my first thought was to hide them."
It seemed a strangely weak explanation. I realized that Pearce's consuming desire for financial gain had warped his sense of ethics. His action of a moment before had been nothing more or less than a conscious, deliberate effort to conceal his find. He had abandoned secrecy only after he knew that I had made an identical discovery. I made a mental note to be on guard. Pearce had given sufficient indication that he would not play entirely fair in the future.
He grinned eagerly in what might have been an attempt to cover up the awkwardness of the situation. "Farris, these gems are going to bring money back on Earth. They're unusual, not like the ordinary kinds brought back by the Mars explorers."
I shrugged. "The money won't be enough to do us much good unless we can find more of the gems. Remember, any profits we make have to be split four ways, counting Sandley and Durwent."
"I'm certain that we'll find more," Pearce said. "I've found two, and you one. If that's any indication, there should be a lot of them scattered around. Come on, Farris, let's look."
I nodded in renewed eagerness, and we began the search. A disinterested observer might have found our actions comical as we probed with anxious, almost frantic, haste among the boulders. It didn't seem funny to us, of course. We had speculated more or less constantly during the entire voyage over the possibility of locating a source of wealth on Venus, and this was our chance. No, it wasn't funny at all. It was very real, and clear, and logical.
I don't know how much time passed. I was too absorbed in my search to pay much heed to anything else.
At intervals, I found three more gems. Each find came at a point when I was about ready to give up, spurring me on to new efforts. I might have continued indefinitely if Pearce hadn't suddenly called my name.