noticed, almost at once, that
O'Gorman and his companions wore a decidedly perplexed and slightly
chagrined air, and the reason therefor soon became apparent.

"So," said I, in a congratulatory tone, "you soon found your treasure,
then. I hope it proves to be worth all the trouble you have taken to
secure it?"

"Begorra, thin, it's mesilf that'd be glad to be able to say `yis' to
that," answered the Irishman. "But I'm puzzled; I can't make it out,"
he continued. "_This_ is what we've found,"--giving the chest a kick
that betrayed a certain amount of temper--"but beyant a gallon or so of
pearls there's nothin' in it but pebbles; and I'd like ye to say whether
you think them pebbles is worth annything or not."

So saying, O'Gorman raised the heavy lid of the chest, disclosing an
interior subdivided into four compartments by thin hardwood partitions
running diagonally from corner to corner. One compartment was packed as
full as it would hold of pearls, nearly all of which--if one might judge
by the top layer--were of very fair size, while a few, scattered here
and there, were exceptionally fine; and their exquisite satiny sheen
seemed to indicate that they were all of the first water. Miss Onslow
could not suppress a cry of admiration and delight as she gazed upon
them--which tribute to their beauty--and consequent value--seemed to
afford considerable satisfaction to the finders.

"May I touch them?" asked I of O'Gorman.

"Oh yes," he answered, "I suppose there's no harm in y'r touchin' 'em,
if ye wants to."

I plunged my hand down into the heart of the compartment, turning over
the pearls, and bringing others to the surface; and it appeared that
they were all of pretty much the same quality and value. "Why," said I,
"here is a respectable fortune for each of you in these pearls alone,
even if the `pebbles' turn out to be valueless, which is scarcely likely
to be the case, or they would not have been so carefully stowed away in
this chest. Now, these, for example," I continued, turning to a
contiguous compartment more than half full of crystals that looked like
splintered fragments of rather dull glass, "are uncut diamonds. Yes,"
as I felt two or three of them between my finger and thumb, "there is no
doubt about it: they have the true soapy feel; they are diamonds, and,
taken in bulk, of very great value. And here, again," as I turned to
the next compartment, about as full as that containing the diamonds,