“What! are there no more?”
“Not another one, so far as I can see.”
“That’s too bad,” observed the captain, in a tone 148 of disappointment. “I supposed there was enough to keep us employed several days.”
“Ah, Jack,” replied the mate, in a reproving tone, “see the emptiness of riches, and how little they can do to satisfy the cravings of the human heart. There is enough wealth there at your feet to make you and me independently rich for life, and yet you complain because you have so little.”
“It was wrong,” said the captain, meekly. “I am in such a nervous condition that I’m hardly myself. I am truly grateful for what we have here, and glad that we made the long voyage to secure them. We have enough––to crave more is wicked.”
They now set to work opening the shells between which were nestling the pearls, and the result was simply astonishing. It was hard work to get some of the thick, ridgy bivalves apart, but when they succeeded they rarely failed to be rewarded munificently. Some of the pearls were small, the majority large, and about twenty of enormous size and clearness. When the entire lot was placed in a little pile, there were found to be one hundred and twenty-odd; and, although it was impossible to estimate their value, Mate Storms––who was the better informed––believed they were worth at least a quarter of a million of dollars. All these had been taken in a few hours, though 149 the preparations and the voyage thither had occupied many long, long months.
“I think I will go down and take a farewell look,” said Abe, when the task was finished. “I have a suspicion that I may have missed something.”
“I am quite sure you have,” replied the captain, assisting him with his armor; “and you have but a short time at your disposal, either, for I think a storm is brewing.”
This time the mate meant to proceed differently. In descending along the rocks the first time, he paused to break off some of the clusters, and he thought he caught the shadowy glimpse of an enormous oyster, further in; but there were so many closer at hand, and he was so excited––despite his natural coolness––that he forgot about it until now, when he determined to look further, half hoping, more than believing, that it might possess a still larger pearl than any he had seen. He was confident that this was the only one he had missed, for the search he made during his last descent, in other respects, was thorough and left nothing to be done over again.
Carefully he sank into the depths of the ocean, with one hand grasping the rope, ready to give the signal to stop lowering the instant it should become necessary. He passed several yawning crevices in the rocks, which, of course, were of coral formation, and 150 all at once he tugged smartly at the rope. He recognized the spot, and his feet were still about three yards from the bank upon which he had walked back and forth so many times. Captain Bergen responded at once, and held him suspended where he was, which was anything but a comfortable position, inasmuch as he could find no support for his feet, and his left hand was of little use.