rocks, which, of course, were of coral formation, and all at once he
tugged smartly at the rope. He recognized the spot, and his feet were
still about three yards from the bank upon which he had walked back
and forth so many times. Captain Bergen responded at once, and held
him suspended where he was, which was anything but a comfortable
position, inasmuch as he could find no support for his feet, and his
left hand was of little use.

Immediately before his face the rock made an inward sweep, showing an
abrupt ledge, a yard in width and depth. Scanning this as closely as
he could in the dim twilight of the ocean-cavern, Storms thought he
saw something resembling an oyster, which was fully a foot in length.
Uncertain as to its identity, he shoved his hand in and found it was
suspended to the rock above, and after two or three violent wrenches,
and by using his knife as well as he could, he broke it loose and drew
it out.

It was an oyster, indeed, of prodigious size, and he instantly
signaled to the captain to draw him up. The latter did so with a vigor
that threatened to dislocate the armor itself.

"Here it is," he exclaimed, the moment he reached the air. "But I
don't know whether there is anything in it or not."

"My stars! Is that an oyster?" asked the captain, picking it up and
turning it over like a huge stone, with inquiring eyes.

Little Inez Hawthorne had come to the spot while the mate was down the
last time, and she danced with delight at the sight of the beautiful
pearls piled upon the ground like a heap of tiny cannon balls.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked, surveying the big
bivalve, with an expression of disgust on her pretty face.

"That is yours," said the captain, earnestly.

The mate looked at him and said:

"Do you mean that, captain?"

"I do. Whatever we find inside of that shall be consecrated to the use
of Inez Hawthorne--to be hers absolutely. There may be nothing at all,
but if there be a pearl, it will possess a value which we cannot
estimate."

The mate reached out his hand.

"The proposition does credit to your heart, captain, and I join it
without reservation. Now do you open it."

The captain hesitated a moment and looked at the big shell curiously,
as if afraid to make the investigation.

While thus employed, Storms called attention to the fact that the two
shells were already slightly separated, as if the mollusk were gasping
for air, which could not be