"Don't do that; if there is a pearl inside you'll damage it, perhaps crush it to bits. Leave the shell on one side and try another. I will show you how to tap a blister later on."
Jack placed it on one side and forced open another shell, it took him some considerable time, and when his knife slipped, the gaping shell closed sharply and nearly caught his fingers. He forced it again and cut out the fish, as he did so a pearl, the size of a pea, dropped out and he picked it up, at the same time expressing his feelings in a joyful exclamation. The others looked up, and he held it out to Jacob, who examined it carefully.
"Straw coloured," he said, "there are plenty of them, but this is well shaped, it is not a bad pearl at all, I daresay it would bring a tenner."
"A little thing like that!" said Jack.
"Yes, and if it was perfect and a better colour it would be worth a lot more. Try again," said Jacob, as he handed the pearl back to him.
There were pearls of different sizes in nearly every shell, and Phil Danks knew Jacob Rank was not far out when he proclaimed this bay the richest pearl fishery in Australia. Danks had opened hundreds of shells in his time, but he had never seen such beautiful mother of pearl, or so many seeds in the same number of shells.
They continued opening until the last lot was finished, and as Jacob looked at the shell and the pearls, he said, "That's a good day's work for a start, but we shall find a few gems before we have done. Did you ever see richer shell, or a larger number of pearls out of such a take, Phil?"
"No," replied Danks. "I call it marvellous."
Jack Redland was astonished. On the deck lay a pile of glittering shell, dazzling almost to blinding in the sunlight, it recalled to mind a glimpse of a fairy grotto he had once seen in a pantomime. Jacob threw a bucket of water over the heap and the shells reflected a myriad of sparkling lights which danced and flickered in a bewildering manner. From this sight, Jack turned to the small bowl of pearls, and commenced to speculate how many they would get before they cleared out of the bay.
The shells and the pearls were carefully stored, and work commenced again for the day. Harry Marton remained in charge of the schooners, which were anchored alongside, and had with him the cooks and the cabin boys, all the others being left in the dinghies.