hing more
or less than nacre, a fluid secretion of a certain variety of oyster--not
the eatable kind. A grain of sand gets between the folds of the oyster
and its shell and irritates the beast. In self-defense the oyster covers
the sand with a fluid which hardens and forms a pearl."

"I've always known that," said Flo, with a toss of her head.

"Yes; but I want you all to bear it in mind, for it will explain a
discovery I have made. Before I get to that, however, I want to say that
at one time the island of Ceylon supplied the world with its most famous
pearls. The early Egyptians discovered them there, as well as on the
Persian and Indian coasts. The pearl which Cleopatra is said to have
dissolved in wine and swallowed was worth about four hundred thousand
dollars in our money; but of course pearls were scarce in her day. A
single pearl was cut in two and used for earrings for the statue of Venus
in the Pantheon at Rome, and the sum paid for it was equal to about a
quarter of a million dollars. Sir Thomas Gresham, in the days of Queen
Elizabeth, had a pearl valued at about seventy-five thousand dollars
which he treated in the same manner Cleopatra did, dissolving it in wine
and boasting he had given the most expensive dinner ever known."

"All of which--" began Maud, impatiently.

"All of which, Miss Stanton, goes to show that pearls have been of great
price since the beginning of history. Nowadays we get just as valuable
pearls from the South Seas, and even from Panama, St. Margarita and the
Caromandel Coast, as ever came from Ceylon. But only those of rare size,
shape or color are now valued at high prices. For instance, a string of
matched pearls such as that owned by Princess Lemoine is estimated as
worth only eighty thousand dollars, because it could be quite easily
duplicated. The collection of Countess Ahmberg was noted for its variety
of shapes and colors more than for its large or costly pearls; and that
leads to my great discovery."

"Thank heaven," said Flo, with a sigh.

"I have discovered that our famous expert. Le Drieux, is an
arrant humbug."

"We had suspected that," remarked Maud.

"Now we know it," declared Colby. "Pearls, I have learned, change their
color, their degree of luster, even their weight, according to
atmospheric conditions and location. A ten-penny-weight pearl in Vienna
might weigh eight or nine pennyweights here in California, or it is more
likely to weigh twelve. The things ab