"The little cardboard box you put the first prize in," gasped Owen.
"Please hurry and open it up, Max."
His chum was no less eager to see what the contents of the box would prove to be.
No sooner had he removed the lid than the enraptured eyes of the two boys fell upon the lost pearl! Yes, there it rested on its pink cotton bed, looking even more beautiful in Owen's eyes than either of the two later prizes.
After staring at it for some time the boys allowed their eyes to exchange a look. Max was pale and distressed, while his cousin, on the other hand, seemed to be excited, as though indignation and even anger had surged up within him.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW COOK SPRINGS HIS SURPRISE.
"Well, what d'ye think of that, eh?" Owen exclaimed.
"It's hard to believe," replied the other.
"But all the same, we saw him with our own eyes, Max," declared the other.
"Yes, that's so," answered Max, reluctantly.