The Ordway new era., 1921-01-28

The pearl. passing from hand !"
hand. ilsd come round to tie bos'
again. who. STOPPING close 10 the nre
light. examined it through sihai'
hand lens such as most pearl nshers
carry. .Pearlhunter." lie said. turning
to the young man. you shoreiy AR
luckyi You've found yur peari-an
a fortune II were"
Then it's you that's lucky. was
the slow answer. ats not mine.
Had the others not been too excited
they might have noticed that ms lips
were drawn; his voice strained.
The grlzzled old river Boss gripped
his calloused hand shut upon the
pearl: his seamy old face tarden'd'
and there sprang up In his deep-se'
eves an expression not unlike the ex-
preston In the eyes OF ha"h "n,
title to the prey in his claws is ',is-
puted. But the expression passeu' ne
tbrust the pearl back into the young
mans hand as though half afraih vi
it.
"say." he growled. 'Nghat do you
think | am:'
..It was taken from your boat IN
waters you expected to fish tomorrow
You'd have found it anyway
The hawkish glover left the blue
eves of the older man. leaving him
the frank faced old Boss again lie
studied his young friend curiousiy.
swell, I'll be damn'd!" he chuekied
rood-nafuredly to himself, still study
ing the other from under the edges OF
his eyes. Say" he continued. look
ing up frankly, ~ hain't got dern
BIT more claim to 1t than ! got to the
Bank of Ingland. If you fancy l have
got claims, l hereby gives an conveys
'em t you-an' If that hain't good
law. IFS square dealin' btwiNt nun
an man: an that's better'n law any
day"
"You mean itt"
The Younger man fingered the pearl
as II It had suddenly assumed new
value
''If you wan t insult me, jist let on
like yu think I don't"
Hero-worshipers all, after the man
ner of their kind, the other pearl fish
crs, as if by common impulse, turned
their attention from the pearl to the
man that found it. He had become an
object of wonder and curious admira-
tion. No other achievement in the
world could possibly have so distin-
guished him in their eyes. Suddenly
one of their number snatched OFF his
battered hat and yelled:
"Hooray fer tn Pearlhunter!"
The bluffs caught up the cheer that
followed and flung it back in multi
piled echoes, clear and far up and
down the night-bound shore. The
Boss, still hungry for the feel of the
jewel, reached forth a grimy finger
and medltatively stirred the pearl
where 1t lay in the finders palm.
"This ones rounder than them
other two An it's got a SINNER
sheen. Course l cayn't say pintedly,
but 1 putt it at not less'n five thou
SAN"
The Pearlhunter was restless.
There was frail woman back in the
cabin at Fallen Rock to whom the find
ing of the pearl would mean more
than to anybody else in the world. 1t
would mean-the mans heart warmed
with the thought, as his mind revert
ed to the story of the afternoon
back to the house on hill that over
looked the riyer-and go0l-by to the
cough forever.
But it was some time before the
first flush of excitement died down. 1t
is not one camp In thousand that
ever sees Blue Moon. The value OF
1T =.
Boss happened to remember the fish
still lying in the boat.
9TH fish, he exclaimed. "Th
fiies'll be at EN-"
"And ! must be getting home" The
Pearlhunter was quick to seize the
chance.
Followed by the others, the Bos.
went down to the boat-not. however
until the Pearlhunter had torn cor
ner ont of the cloth spread down by
the fire, wrapped the pearl up in it,
and put it carefully away in his
pocket.
Insisting on relieving the Boss from
rowing on the way back, he took his
place at the oars and waited for the
boa: to be pushed off into the stream.
But the Boss, with his hand upon the
bow, stood hesitatingly before giving
the final shove.
shorty" he called to the man who
had danced the hornpipe. and who
was now gone back to the fire. "bring
me my Of shotgun an coat. / reckon
I'll camp at Fallen Rock t'night."
The PearIhunter protested against
his going to such trouble; but the
Boss had his way.
"The Iron Gray Woman was
dead"