"Well?"
"I don't believe, sir——"
"That it's worth anything at all?" the farmer interrupted.
A solemn dignity, the accompaniment of great trouble, came to the man's aid and gave him strength. "Thank you," he said; "I understand."
He looked around with a troubled glance and saw the far smaller but more valuable pearl that his neighbor had found, which was still lying on the table beside the instruments. A strong shiver
shook him, but he made no other sign. He turned to Colin.
"I see that it's no good," he said, "but I shall keep it just the same. If you have finished with it——"
Colin stood up and placed the pearl in his hand.
"Please take it to some one else right away," he said. "I couldn't sleep—suppose I were wrong!"
The old farmer looked at him gravely.