El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-10
PAGES 9 TO IL.


down into his whaleboat. and the brown
men pulled him back to the lugger
Curse that beggar's impudencef'
said Carnforth hotly. II wonder who
the deuce he is?''
'.Maybe we'll find out, " said Kettle.
81 tried to catch your eye while he
was speaking. If | had my way, he'd
be on board now, kept snug till we
were through with our business here
He'd have been lot safer that way.
- ooh, nor said CarnfOrth. 1--WE
couldn't have done the high handed
like that on the little he said. Wonder
who he can be. though? Some poor
beggar whose corns | trod on up at
Cambridge. Well. anyway 30 years
and that beard have completely changed
him out of memory However, if he
chooses to come round and be civil he
can, and if he doesn L won't worry.
And now. captain, pearlsl The sooner
we get to work the more chance we
have of getting cargo under matches
and slipping away undisturbed.
"Right-o." said Captain Kettle.
"They We got the other two sand banks.
and by the smell they're doing roar
ing 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 different to rose
garden Mr.. Carnforth. but it'll be a
sight more valuable.
Then began a period of frantic toll
and labor Every man on board was
ION shares for il had pleased Carn-
forth : whIln 10 use this old bnccaneer' )
incentive. Half OF the profits went TO
the ship ana the rest TO the Gyew. Each
man bad so many shares according 70
his rating. Carnforth himself, in addi
ton to his earnings as owner, earned
also as an ordinary seaman and sweat
ed aid strained like any Of the hands.
From an hour before day hreais to an
hour after sunset he was away in the
boats under the devs Of morn and eve
or the blazing torrent Of midday sun
shine. Every night he tuHbied into biz
bed place dog tired and ezulting 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 its floor where
divers could not work There was no
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 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 it. How the others We're doing the
yachts party neither knew nor cared.
In a nicer life the smells of the place
would have offended them monstrouslv
here IuGF were lIdlItr COnSTdUu-
ation. 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 shellfish and melted away
heir 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
rbjnaSo Grind
anger pearls of any size and color and
shape. from the humble opalescent
sphere, worth its meaeer half crown,
o the black pearl. worth its score of
pounds, or the great pear shaped pink
,earl. worth princes ransom. 1t was
Ill gamble, but none the less fascin-
lting for that. Carnforth was mad over
he work Kettle. with all his nonchal-
lnce gone, was nearly as bad.
But the process of realizing their
wealth was none too fast and in fact
eemed to them tedious beyond words
Still at last came the first moment of
ealization. They had toiled month.
md they had collected that day the
ruits of their first days labor. The
mother of pearl shell was packed in the
lold- The little crop of pearls stood in
basin on the cabin table. and they
,loated over them as they supped.
Carnforth stirred them lovingly with
he butt of his fork. Pretty little
'eas, aren't they. skipperT''
For those they amuse, though | like
o see a bit more color in woman's
ornaments myself.
''Matter of taste and matter of fash
on. Pearls are all the rage inst now.
diamonds are slightly commonplace.
But women will spend their money on