"Hurrah!" he shouted as his quick eye spied the bivalve among the load of stones he had dumped. "I told you that pie belonged to me."
It wasn't much of an oyster, as Bob told him, and there was no pearl in it, but Jack insisted that even so it was worth two pieces of pie.
"And where there's one there's bound to be more," he exulted. Before they had time to try again the dinner gong sounded and, much against their inclination, they had to hurry back.
"We'll fill the boat after dinner," Jack declared as he took the oars and started to row back to the Valkyrie.
Jack got his two pieces of pie and Wong, seeing the wistful look on Bob's face, gave him an extra piece as well.
"You'll have to earn that after dinner," Jack told him.
When they started in again after dinner the tide was more than two-thirds out and a strip of sand showed at the foot of the cliff. They began operations at about the same place where they had left off and, after a few trials Bob brought up the second oyster.
"There, that's a real oyster," he announced as he picked it out from the stones.
"It's big enough to hold a good sized pearl at any rate," Mr. Lakewood smiled as he reached out his hand for it.
With his oyster knife he quickly opened it and, to their great joy, found a pearl about the size of a small pea.