'Mr. Livermore resumed the conversation:
''The secret which Adéle imparted to me will, I dare say, appear at first very extravagant, but before you laugh at it, give me time to explain. It is the existence of a marvelous opal mine in the interior; the precise location of which is known to no one save Adéle and myself.'
'In spite of the greatest effort, I could not suppress a smile of incredulity, at this announcement. Mexico is so full of strange stories of fabulous mines, that this wondrous tale of opals looked to me like some new confidence game, and I felt sure my neighbors were duped or else trying to dupe me.
''Oh! I see you think we are deceived?'
''I admit,' I replied, 'it strikes me as possible that you have been the victims of some crafty scheme. Did you hear of this mine before or since your arrival in Mexico?'
''Before we left New-Orleans.'
''And yet it is not known to the natives?'
''It was from a Mexican we had our information.'
''Why did not this Mexican himself take advantage of it?'
''He could not, for he was banished. He is now dead. But what do you think of these specimens?'