decide. But if
you're agoin' to trust me, get along with your trustin', for I reckon
I've had about enough of this 'ere place; I don't like the looks of the
folks I sees around me, not a little bit, and I'm growin' sorter keen to
get out of it.'

"`All right,' he says, `let's git.' So we got, and made our way to
Central Park, where we found a seat in a quiet, secluded spot, and sat
ourselves down. And there, a'ter sayin' as he'd got a secret that he
must share with somebody if he was to get any good out of it, and that I
was the only reely honest feller he knowed, Abe up and told me how,
a'ter he'd built a bit of a raft out of some of the wreckage of the
ship, so's he could go off fishin' in her, he one day happened to hit
upon a big bed of pearl-oysters, thousan's--millions of 'em! He sorter
guessed what they was when he first set eyes on 'em, as he looked down
through the clear green water, and tried to get down to 'em by divin'.
But that wa'n't no good; the water was too deep--a good five fathom he
said there was over 'em--and then there was sharks about too. So he
unlaid a bit o' rope from the wreckage, knocked some nails out o' some
o' the timber that had druv ashore, and fixed up a sorter small grapple,
with which he went gropin' out on this here oyster bed. But the thing
wasn't of much account, accordin' to what Abe himself said. First he'd
got to git it just so over a oyster afore it'd take holt; and then, when
he'd hooked one, as often as not the blamed thing'd let go agin afore he
got the oyster up out o' water: consequently it come to this, that with
all his gropin' he only managed to land four oysters altogether. But
out of them four two had pearls in 'em, one bein' as big as a small
marble, while the others was little 'uns--three of 'em--'bout the size
of cherry stones.

"Well, he took care of them there pearls, and managed to bring 'em home
with him. And then, 'stead of takin' of 'em to a respectable jeweller,
he must needs try to trade 'em off to a Chinaman! Of course you can
guess what happened. The Chink purtended that he was game to buy, took
Abe to his house--leastways the Chink said it was his--doped Abe, stole
the pearls, and vamoosed!

"Then, a few days a'terwards, along comes I; and when Abe reckernised me
he made up his mind in a minute what he'd do. First of all he offered
to sell me the secret of the whereabouts of the oyster bed for fifty
thousand dollars! Only fifty thousand,