“‘There are no more shells in that bed,’ I said. ‘This was the only one there.’
“‘No more shells there!’ he screamed. ‘You are mad like this fellow. We found a hundred and seven there, and we planted seed in each one. Each of them has a pearl as fine as this.’
“He tried to be gentle again, though he sweated. He tried to explain. He had discovered the secret of the pearl; he had planted something in each shell as one might a cocoanut-sprout in the earth. There was much I did not understand, for no man had ever tried such blasphemy. The God that made these lagoons had wrapped them in the unknown, and had made pearls the dispensation of His will.
“‘Whatever was done here by you,’ I said, ‘there are no more shells in that tiamaha. I searched it all about.’
“He tried to laugh, but failed, and he looked at Mauraii.
“‘A hundred and seven shells! It took us weeks,’ he said. ‘That was the number, Mauraii?’
“The man possessed of the devil nodded his head and really laughed. It was an evil laugh.
“‘A hundred and seven, and one—this one—makes a hundred and six,’ said he. He smiled, and I went cold. I knew that before he went mad, Mauraii did not know how to count. The devil was in him.
“The Taote breathed hard. ‘Tepeva a Tepeva,’ he said, ‘go down again. It is possible that this is not the bed. We placed a small anchor beside it. Look for that. I worked seventeen years for this day.’
“Again I went into the water, and to the bottom. I found the place where I had pried off the oyster with the great pearl. Digging in the sand and ooze, I found the anchor. I saw plainly the empty cups of the oysters that had been, and I counted them roughly and made them about a hundred. I stayed a full minute and a half, and I hated to go up. I did not like to meet that wise man looking at me in a terrible way when he should see me empty-handed. But I had to go. I was exhausted when I reached the sunlight, and until I had gained my breath and my blood was quiet, I did not turn to the Taote.