The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-08-10

and by the smell they're doing . roar
ing business Well bag this empty one
:; near us and set about fishing this very
hour and plant our shell to rot there.
tn smell q bit different to a rose
garden, Mr.. Carnforth, but it'll be q
sight more valuable"
i Then began period Of frantic toll
and labor. Every man on board was
''on shares" for it had pleased earn.
forth's within to use this old buccaneer' 3
incentive Half of the profits went to
the ship and the rest to the crew. Each
man had 80 many shares, according to
his rating. Carnforth himself, in addi-
ton to his earnings as owner. earned
also as an ordinary seaman and sweat.
ed 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 sun
shine. Every night he tumbled into hie
bed place dog tired and exulting in
his tiredness Every morning he woke
eager again for the fierce toll He was
unshaven, sunburned, 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 violent
ly exhorting the others. Neither his
arms nor his tongue ever tired. But
he was always neat, seldom unclean.
Dirt seemed to have an antipathy for
the man, and, against his disheveled
owner, he looked like park dandy be.
side a ragpicker
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
natural boundary, and neither trans.
gressed it. On each submarine territory
there was enough shell to work on for
the present and each party toiled with
the came 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 it. How the others were doing the
yachts party neither knew nor cared.
In nicer life the smells Of the place
would have offended them monstrously.
Here they were matter for congratu-
lation. The more the putrefaction 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 shellfsh and melted away
their soft tissues in horrible decay The
value was all gamble. There might be
merely so much mother Of 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 opalescent
sphere. worth its meager half crown,
to the black pearl, worth its score of
pounds, or the great pear shaped pink
pearl, worth princes ransom. 1t was
all gamble, but none the less fascin-
ating for that Carnforth was mad over
the work. Kettle. with all his nonchal-
ance gone, was nearly as bad.
But the process Of realizing their
wealth was none too fast and, in fact.
seemed to them tedious beyond words
Still at last came the first moment Of
realization. They had toiled a month,
and they had collected that day the
fruits of their first days labor. The
mother Of pearl shell was packed in the
hold. The little crop Of pearls stood in
basin on the cabin table. and they
gloated over them as they supped.
Carnforth stirred them lovingly with
the butt of his fork. ''Pretty little
peas. aren't they, skipperH"
"For those they amuse, though like
to see bit more color in a woman's
ornaments myself.
"Matter of taste and matter Of fash
ion. Pearls are all the rage just now.
Diamonds are slightly commonplace.
But women will spend their money on
something, and SO the price Of pearls is
up"
$50 much the better for us, sir It's
pity, though, that some of them
seem bit off color, like that big gray
chap, for instance
"Gray, mani Why that's a black
pearl, and probably worth any ten of
the rest put together.
"Well." said Kettle, II don't set up
for being a pearl merchant Poaching
them trouble enough for me"
pass the biscuit, will your" said
Carnforth. yawning. II suppose that
little lot is worth anything over e1,.
00O"- And with that he dropped back
dead asleep in his chair, with a forkful
Of food in midair. Captain Kettle fin
ished his meal; but he. too, man of
wire though he was. suddenly tumbled
forward and went to sleep, with his
head on the table. 1t was no new thing |
for them to do. They had dropped off |
like this into unconsciousness more |
than once during that month of savage
toll.
The next day they had smaller crop
ready to glean-a bare $500 worth, in
fact. But they did not lament There
would be an enormous quantity ready
for the morrow.
That further realization Of their
wealth, however, never came During
the night another lugger sailed into
the lagoon and upset all their plans
She was the consort Of the lugger COM
manded by the Cambridge man, and
she had taken away to safe place
their first crop of pearls and she'll
Further she was manned by IA whites.
all armed, and all quite ready to de-
Fend what they considered their poach.
srs' monopoly. As a consequence they
pulled across to the yacht some two
hours before daybreak. and Carnforth
and Captain Kettle found themselves
walked by three men who carried marlin
repeating rifles. and were quite ready
70 use them if pressed
But the little sailor was not easily
owed "By JamesI' be cried "This
s piracyi"
"It'll be funeral" said the man |