He held out his hand and passed the pearl to the mussel-gatherer, who glanced at it hastily.
"Mr. Dare!" he said excitedly.
Colin looked up and caught his glance, then tried to take the stone. But his hand shook as though he were in a violent fever, and the mussel-gatherer placed it on the table beside his own, in front of the boy. Clear, flawless, and of fair size, it gleamed like a star of hope before them all. A moment's examination was enough. Leaping from his seat Colin seized the pearl and rushed out of the door.
"It's real, sir; it's real!" he cried. "And will do all you said!"
The old farmer never looked at him. He turned his face toward the stars and reverently removed his hat.
CHAPTER IX
A TUSSLE WITH THE MONARCH OF THE SEA
In spite of his interest in the pearl work, Colin began to feel the strain of the steady and persistent grind required from him by Dr. Edelstein, who himself seemed absolutely untiring. At the beginning of July, moreover, the weather turned wet, and the rain poured down steadily, not heavily, but soaking the ground thoroughly. For a week or so no notice was taken of the rain, other than the discomfort it caused, but one day Colin overheard one of the head workers saying to the superintendent: