lking about."

The paper which Captain Bergen produced at this point of his narrative
was covered with some well-executed drawings, which, having been done
by the sailor himself, showed that he was a man of education.

"Those dots there represent the King George Islands of the South
Pacific, lying in about fifteen degrees south latitude and one hundred
and forty-three degrees west longitude. To the north here is Mendina
Archipelago, and here to the east are the Paumotu Islands, sometimes
known as the Pearl Islands. There are a good many of them, and away to
the northeast of the group is another island, which, although much the
larger on the map, is really a small coral island, with a lagoon, and
so unimportant that it has no name, and cannot be found on any map I
ever saw.

"You will observe the figure and directions marked on this paper,"
added Captain Bergen, who invariably became excited at this point in
his narration, "which, with his explanations, are so easily understood
that no one can go astray.

"Well, Bill Grebbens once belonged to a party of mutineers of a
British vessel, who found it growing so hot for them that they put in
to this island, scuttled and sunk their ship, and lived there two
years. It was uninhabited, and they led a lazy, vagabond life in that
charming climate till a strange sort of sickness broke out among them
and carried off eight, leaving only Grebbens and a single shipmate.

"These two spent several months longer in wandering about the island
looking for and yet dreading to see a sail, when one day they
discovered a bed of pearl-oysters, which they examined and found to be
of surpassing richness. The majority of the shells contained pearls,
many of them of great size, and the two men saw that an immense
fortune lay only a few fathoms under the surface.

"They instantly set to work with great eagerness; but it is seldom
that a man obtains wealth in this world by walking over a path of
roses.

"Within the first half-hour, a huge man-eating shark glided into the
clear water, and with one snap of his enormous jaws actually bit the
body of the other sailor in two. The horrified Grebbens managed to get
out just in time to save himself.

"He had enough of pearl-diving, and he shudderingly turned his back
upon the spot, and began looking out to sea again for a sail,
determined now to leave, no matter if he should be carried to England
and executed.

"He managed to set up the topmast of