came young men, we set off together to see the
world and to make our fortunes.

"We visited many strange and wonderful places and had many adventures,
some of which I shall tell you about, perhaps. Our fortunes were up and
down, usually down. We sought for pearls in the Indian Ocean and the
South Seas, and for gold in Australia. We traded with the natives here,
there, and everywhere, but our fortunes were still to be made, and it
seemed we might spend our lives without being much better off than we
were then.

"At last Dugald and I parted company. I was to go on a trading journey
into the interior of Borneo, which, as you know, is a very large island
in the East Indies. Dugald set out upon a wild expedition into Burma.
We had heard a story of a rare and valuable jewel said to be in a
remote and little-known part of the interior. I had tried to dissuade
him from so dangerous and uncertain an attempt, but he was brave and
even reckless. Besides, my own adventure was dangerous also.

"Before we parted, Dugald gave me a little charm which he always wore
and in which he had great faith. It was supposed to bring luck and to
shield from danger. Perhaps it did, for I was very lucky thereafter and
had many wonderful escapes from death. It was not so with Dugald. I
never saw him again, and I wish now that he had kept the charm. Perhaps
it would have protected him."

Grandfather paused and glanced at the bronze figure of Buddha beyond
the circle of the lamplight.

"This image was his last gift to me, brought by his trusted servant
with the message that in it lay fortune and that I should always keep
it by me--and I have always done so."

"Did he find the valuable jewel?" Hortense asked breathlessly.

"That I never knew," said Grandfather. "The servant told me a wild
story of his master's finding it, but when my friend died suddenly, the
servant could find no trace of it. I think he was honest, too.

"But the jewel isn't the point of my story--rather, the charm."

Grandfather opened a drawer of his desk and drew forth a tiny box of
sweet smelling wood--sandalwood, Grandfather called it. He bade
Hortense lift the cover. Inside the box lay a tiny ivory monkey
attached to a tarnished silver chain.

"It can be worn around the neck," said Grandfather, drawing it forth.
Placing the chain about Hortense's neck, he fastened the ends in a
secure little clasp.

"Now you'll have good luck and nothing can harm you," he said smilin