CHAPTER XXXVII
CONCLUSION
Many a long hour did the two––Fred and Inez––spend in talking together of the past and their future. They were as brother and sister to each other, and their prospects were discussed as if it were fixed that they should never lose sight of each other again.
It was on this voyage, too, that Abram Storms disclosed the plan of action he had decided upon.
“The pearls which I have in my possession I shall dispose of in San Francisco––or at least a portion of them. Those which were my share, according to the original agreement, I shall keep. The single pearl, which will doubtless bring a large price in New York, is the property of Inez, and shall be devoted to her benefit. I intend to place her in a school and make a systematic effort to trace her parentage. The pearls left by Captain Bergen go to you, Fred.”
But here occurred the first stumbling-block. Fred Sanders refused pointedly, but firmly, to accept a single one of them. He declared he had no claim 265 upon any one of that little party, and he would not suffer himself to be dissuaded from his position.
He was yet young, vigorous and ambitious, and with the help of heaven he would carve out his own fortune. Seeing it was useless to argue the question, Storms fell back upon the original intention of Captain Bergen, which was to devote the greater portion of his wealth to charity.
In due time, the Albatross glided through the Golden Gate, and our friends found themselves in San Francisco, whose streets all had trod years before.