Evening star., 1898-03-12

there. Come below and have drink and a
| talk By the way, it's awfully rude of me;
l haven't tumbled yet to who you are
| Never mind my name" said the visitor,
| coolly. II don't suppose you'd remember
| me. l was reading man up there, and
you weren't. You did your best to torment
| a fizzle of after life. You got plowed and
became commercial success. So you see
We've little enough in common, and be-
| sides, 1 was here first and resent your
| coming
| "Oh. rubbish, man; come below and have
cocktail"
Thanks. no. I prefer not to be under
the tie Of bread and salt with-er-trade
| rivals He dropped his eyeglass and
walked to the head of the accommodation
ladder. Look here, Master Carnforth" he
| said. "1'll give you useful tip: Clear
| out Then he went down into his whale
| boat and the brown men pulled him back to
the lugger.
Curse that beggar's impudence," said
Carnforth, hotly. II wonder who the deuce
he is?''
| Maybe We'll find OUT said Kettle 81
| tried to catch your eye whilst he was
| speaking. If 1 had my way he'd be on
board now, kept snug till We were through
with our business here. He'd have been a
lot safer that way
| ooh, no." said Carnforth 1--WE CO.. dnt
have done the high-handed like that on the
| little he said. Wonder who he can be-
though? Some poor beggar whose corns I
| liou oIl up DIT Cambridge wen, anyway,
| twenty years and that beard have COM
| pletely changed him out of memory. How
| ever, If he chooses to come round and be
civil he cam and If he doesn't, 1 won't
| worry. And now, captain, pearls! The
sooner we get to work the more chance we
| have Of getting a cargo under matches and
| slipping away undisturbed."
''Right-o,' said Capt. Kettle. They've
got the other two sand banks, and by the
stink, they're doing roaring business.
| Wen bag this empty one near US, and set
about fishing this very hour, and plant
| our shell to rot there. It'll smell a bit diff
ferent to a rose garden. Mr.. Carnforth,
| but it'll be sight more valuable"
Then began period of frantic toll and
labor. Every man on board was "on
| shares" for it had pleased Carnforth's
| whim to use this old buccaneers incentive.
Half of the profits went to the ship and
| the rest Of the crew. Each man had so
| many shares, according to his rating
Carnforth himself, in addition to his earn
/ 1ngs as owner, earned also as an ordinary
( seaman, and sweated and strained like
| any of the hands From an hour before
| daybreak to an hour after sunset he was
| away in the boats, under the dews of morn
| and eve, or the blazing torrent of midday
sunshine. Every night he tumbled into his
bed place dog-tired. and eXuting in his
| tiredness. Every morning he woke eager
| again for the fierce toll. He was un-
| shaVen, sun-ourned, blood-Smeared from
the scratches Of the shell: filthy with rank
| sea mud. But withal he was entirely
| happy
| Kettle tOiled with equal vigor. working
| violently himself and violently exhorting
| the others Neither his arms nor his tongue
| ever tired. But he was, always neat, sell
| dom unclean. Dirt seemed to have an an
| tipathy for the man, and against his
disheveled owner, he looked like a park
dandy beside a rag-picksr. I'll
| At the other side of the lagoon the white
man from Cambridge and a white friend
and their crew of ten Kanakas worked with
| similar industry. The ring of the lagoon
was some half mile in diameter, with lanes
of deep water running through it's floor,
| where divers could not, work. There was
| no clashing of the two parties. One OF
| these water lanes seemed to set out a
natural boundary, and neither transgressed
| 1t. On each submarine territory there was
| enough shell to work ON for the present
| and each party toiled with the same
| frantic energy, and spread out the shell on
| the Sun-baked sand banks. and poisoned
| heaven with the scent of decay. But there
was no further intercourse between the
two bodies of men. nor indeed any attempt
| at 1t. How the others were doing the
| yachts party neither knew nor cared.
Theirs was a race against time for wealth,
ana not one Strfver amongst them all had
leisure to be curious about his neighbors
| In nicer life, the smells of the place
would have offended them monstrously;
| here they were matter for congratula-
| ton: the more the Dutrifaction. the more
| the profit. They ripped the shells from the
sea and spread them upon the beaches
The roasting sun beat upon the spread-out
| shellfish and melted away their soft tis-
sues in horrible decay. The value was all a
gamble. There might be merely so much
| mother-o-pearl for inlay work: or seed
pearl, such as the Chinese grind up for
| medicine; or larger pearls of any size and
] color and shape, from the humble opal
escent sphere worth its meager half a