shells, yo'
say, ma'am. Did yo' touch it?"

"No--it looks too unpleasant."

The negro picked up the buckets, and, followed by Mrs. Lester, set out
along a path which led to a rocky pool of some dimensions filled with
rain water.. "Leave the buckets till we come back, Manuel We have not
far to go."

She led the way to the beach, and then turning to the left walked along
the hard, white sand till they came to a bar of low rocks covered with
sea-moss and lichen. Lying against the seaward face of the rock was
a pile of driftweed, kelp, crayfish shells, &c, and half buried in
_debris_ was the object that had aroused her curiosity.

"There it is, Manuel," she said, pointing to an irregularly-shaped mass
of a mottled grey, yellow and brown substance, looking like soap, mixed
with cinders and ashes.

The negro whipped out his sheath knife, plunged it into the mass, then
withdrew it, pressed the flat of the blade to his nostrils, and then
uttered a yell of delight, clapped his hands, took off his cap and
tossed it in the air, and rolled his eyes in such an extraordinary
manner, that Mrs. Lester thought he had become suddenly insane.

"Yo' am rich woman now, ma'am," he said in his thick, fruity voice. "Dat
am ambergris. I know it well 'nuff. I was cook on a whaleship fo' five
years, and have handled little bits of ambergris two or three times, but
no one in de world, I believe, ever see such a lump like dis."

"Is it worth anything then?"

"Worth anything, ma'am! It am worth twenty-two shillings de ounce!"

He knelt down and began clearing away the weed till the whole mass was
exposed, placed his arms around it, and partly lifted it.

"Dere is more'n a hundredweight," he chuckled, as he looked up at Mrs.
Lester, who was now also feeling excited. "Look at dis now."

He cut out a slice of the curious-looking oleaginous stuff, struck a
match and applied the light. A pale yellow flame was the result, and
with it there came a strong but pleasant smell.

Mrs. Lester had never heard of ambergris to her recollection, but Manuel
now enlightened her as to its uses--the principal being as a developer
of the strength of all other perfumes.

Such a treasure could not be left where it was--exposed to the risk of
being carried away by the tide so the negro at once went to work with
his knife, catting it into three pieces, each of which he carried to
the house, and put into an empty barrel. Then he returned and carefully
searched