ntended
for riches. Take a care, Denny, for the devil bes in it. Saints presarve
us! No good never did come to this harbor out o' wracks, Denny. Me own
father was drunk wid rum out o' a wrack when he fell over the edge o'
the cliff, an' broke his neck on the land-wash. It was for a case o'
brandy out o' a wrack Pat Walen an' Micky Nolan fit wid skulpin'-knives
till Pat was killed dead."

The skipper laughed again and expanded his chest.

"There bain't no fightin' over wracks now," he said. "I bes skipper now,
Granny. Do this, do that, says I--an' it's done! An' I gives out the
shares to the men like I was master o' a sealin'-ship after a trip to
the ice--one share to every man o' the crew an' four to meself. There
bain't no shares for ship an' owners in this business, Granny."

"An' where be the diamonds?" asked the old woman.

"Hid in the marsh, safe an' sound till I takes 'em to St. John's,"
replied the skipper.

"There bain't no luck in diamonds," mumbled the old woman, "an' there
bain't no luck in wracks. The devil bes in the both o' them, Denny."

The skipper passed through his grandmother's bed-room and entered the
cold and un-aired chamber that was reserved for the use of Father
McQueen. He closed the door behind him, bolted it stealthily and then
tiptoed across the floor to the bulging chimney and empty fire-place. He
knelt on the drafty hearth, placed the bag of gold beside his knee, and
thrust both arms into the black maw of the chimney. After a minute of
prying and pulling he withdrew them, holding a square, smoke-smudged
stone in his hands. Laying this on the hearth, he took up the canvas bag
and thrust it into a cavity at the back of the chimney that had been
ready for the reception of just such a treasure for some time. Then he
replaced the stone and scrambled to his feet. He glanced furtively at
the one small window which lighted the room, then moved noiselessly to
the centre of the floor and put up his right hand to the whitewashed
beam that crossed the low ceiling. His fingers searched delicately for a
full minute; and then he lowered his hand, holding a small square of dry
wood. The beam had been skilfully hollowed at this point. From the
cavity he took a small box bound in red leather--the same small box that
he had found among the sheets and blankets of a berth in the wreck. He
opened it and gloated over a necklace of twelve diamonds and fourteen
rubies glinting, flashing and glowing on a bed o