her data on every
pearl found. It was on one of these trips that Colin had the opportunity
of seeing the panicky side of a 'pearl fever,' of which he had heard so
much. The report had come to the station that a pearl of fair size,
valued at about five hundred dollars, had been found, four miles below
the station, and Colin was told to go down and make a report on it as
soon as he had finished his afternoon's work. Accordingly, after supper,
he took a small power-boat and ran downstream, taking with him a very
sensitive pair of scales to determine the exact weight of the pearl,
calipers to ascertain its size, and other instruments especially
designed by Dr. Edelstein. At the same time, he was ordered to secure
the shell from which the pearl had been taken, should it be obtainable.

The pearl was measured carefully and found to be a fine one, not large
and not unusual in any way, though a certain irregularity in the
position of its formation on the shell gave it a scientific interest.
The lucky finder was entirely willing to yield up the shell of the
mussel from which the pearl had been taken, and was glad to be informed
as to its weight and purity. It was pleasant to Colin to see--as he so
often did--the success of the pearl-hunters. But while the boy was
examining the stone, a loud knock at the door, was heard, and a neighbor
came in, breathless and excited.

[Illustration: LANDING THE PADDLEFISH.

New industry developed in the lower Mississippi, catching sturgeon-like
fish for its roe.

_By permission of Dr. Louis Hussakoff._]

"I've got one," he cried. "I've got a big one!"

Every one present crowded round with cries of congratulation.

Slowly the newcomer opened his hand and revealed a large pearl almost
twice the size of the gem Colin had been examining, and, therefore, if
of equal purity, worth eight times as much. The finder handed it around,
and in course of time it reached the boy, who scrutinized it carefully.

"Isn't it a beauty?" the newcomer cried. "And just on the very last day!
I haven't a penny left in the world, and I sold my old farm to come up
here. It's been getting harder and harder for me every day, and we had
decided to give it all up. I hadn't a bit of hope left, and now----!"

The cottager whose pearl Colin had come down to inspect, slapped the
farmer on the back, and without a trace of enviousness--for he himself
had been lucky--joined in his delight. The farmer's wife had followed
him