The presence of Mrs. Cleigh--of course she's Mrs. Cleigh by this
time!--added to the zest. To bring her through with nothing more than
a scare! Odds, odds! Cleigh, on my word, the pearls would have been
of no value without the game I built to go with them. Over the danger
route! Mad? Of course I'm mad!
Four-year-old shell, the pearls of the finest orient! The shell
alone--in buttons--would have recouped Eisenfeldt. He was ugly when
he saw that I had escaped him. Threatened to expose you. But knowing
Eisenfeldt for what he is, I had a little sword of Damocles suspended
over his thick neck. The thought of having lost eight months'
interest will follow him to Hades.
The crew gave me no more trouble. They've been paid their dividends
in the Great Adventure Company, and have gone seeking others. But
I'll warrant they'll take only regular berths in the future.
And now those beads. I'm sorry, but I'm also innocent. I have learned
that Morrissy really double-crossed us all. He had had a copy made in
Venice. The beads you have are forgeries. So the sixty thousand
offered by the French Government remains uncalled for. Who has the
originals I can't say. I'm sorry. Morrissy's game was risky. His idea
was to make a sudden breakaway with the beads--lose them in the
gutter--and trust to luck that we would just miss killing him, which
was the case.
Leaving to-night. Bought a sloop down there, and I'm going back there
to live. Tired of human beings. Tired of myself. Still, there's the
chart. Mull it over. Maybe it's an invitation. The lagoon is like
turquoise and the land like emerald and the sky a benediction.
* * * * *
A spell of silence and immobility. Not a word about his battle with Flint,
thought Jane. A little shiver ran over her. But what a queer, whimsical
madman! To have planned it all so that he could experience a thrill! The
tragic beauty of his face and the pitiable, sluing, lurching stride! She
sighed audibly, so did the two men.
"Denny, I don't know," said Cleigh.
"I do!" said Dennison, anticipating his father's thought. "He's a man, and
some day I'd like to clasp his hand."
"Maybe we all shall," said Cleigh. "But open the box, Jane, and let's
see."
Between the layers of cotton wool she found a single pearl as large as a
hazelnut, pink as the Oriental dawn. One side was slightly depressed, as
though some mischievous, inquisitive mermaid had touched it in passing.
"Oh, the lovely thing!" she gasped. "The lovely thing! But, Denny, I can't
accept it!"