threw those found by the rest of
the party entirely in the shade.

His story was very simple. He explained that the fact of rubies being
found upon the beach had led him to the conviction that they must
originally have come from the soil of the cliff-face; and he had
accordingly devoted himself to the task of examining the bare soil at
those spots where it had crumbled away. The result, he said, was that
he had ultimately come upon a place where, upon careful inspection, he
had found no fewer than three rubies just showing through the soil,
within a foot of each other. These he had, of course, straightway dug
out; and in the act of doing so had disclosed others, the ultimate
result being the unearthing of the superb stones that he had brought
back with him. His opinion, he explained, was that, judging from the
indications already seen, there would be found to be a very considerable
"pocket" of rubies at no great distance in from the cliff-face; and that
the best plan would be for the five men to work conjointly, with picks
and shovels, finally dividing the proceeds between the members of the
party. As for the ladies, if they chose to amuse themselves by
searching the beach, the professor was of opinion that they might meet
with sufficient success to render it fully worth their while.

On the following morning, accordingly, the _Flying Fish_ was moved close
up to the scene of the professor's discovery, and the men, suitably
attired and provided with picks, shovels, and bars, went to work upon
the top edge of the cliff, breaking down and shovelling away the soil as
directed by the professor; but up to lunch time their efforts had been
rewarded by the finding of but one ruby. This, however, von
Schalckenberg explained, was not to be wondered at, as it would probably
take them two or three days to get down to the spot at which he expected
to find the "pocket." This same "pocket," he further explained, might
possibly have been much more quickly reached, and with much less labour,
by digging into the face of the cliff, instead of downward. This,
however, he asserted, would have exposed them all to the very great risk
of an almost certain fall of earth; he had therefore deemed it wise to
adopt the safer method, even though it involved the expenditure of a
very considerably greater amount of labour.

The afternoon's work was rewarded by the discovery of two medium-sized
and two small stones of very fine fire and colou