; another is of the 'rickshawman suspected of
having money in the bank as a result of a lucky find on the seafront of
Colombo of three or four oysters dropped from a discharging boat--in a
shaded alley between buildings he forced the bivalves to disgorge a
pearl worth hundreds of pounds sterling. Most stories of this character
are as untrue as the reports of soubrettes and telephone boys winning
fortunes in Wall Street.

Did I try my luck? Of course I did. Who could resist the temptation? I
purchased two great sackfuls of oysters, a thousand in number, which
were brought off to the government tug _Active_ by salaaming peons from
the government agent's office. At five o'clock the tug was ready to
start Colomboward the instant the "despatches" I was to deliver came on
board. At last the precious package, with a parade of red tape and
impressive wax seals, was handed over the side. It may have contained
something as priceless as a last year's directory; I never knew. It was
my deep-seated suspicion, however, that the packet was somebody's excuse
for letting the public treasury expend a few hundred rupees in carrying
one in private life back to Colombo to catch his steamer for China the
next evening.

Confident was I that the bags on the stern grating that had been freshly
soused with seawater as the _Active_ steamed away from Marichchikkaddi
contained a wealth of pearls. In the cool of the early morning I would
subsidize the eight native sailors, getting them to open the shelled
treasures, while I garnered the pearls. With this thought uppermost, I
turned in on a cushionless bench to snatch a few hours' sleep. But
slumber was out of the question; my brain was planning what might be
done with the pearls I was soon to possess. Yes, there surely would be
plenty for a pearl-studded tiara for the loved one awaiting me; and any
superfluity might be made into ropes and collars for admiring relatives
at home. Cousin Jessie had always coveted a necklace of pearls with a
diamond clasp. The dainty baubles were in those sacks; there was no
question about that. Yes, my luck at pearl-getting would compensate for
missing Sir Thomas Lipton's dinner in Colombo. Sleep always comes in
time, and at last I was dreaming of the cargo of priceless gems with me
on the boat.

How extremely uncomfortable the bench was! What was that! I was not
asleep, but very wide-awake--and such pains! In an instant I was rolling
on the deck and shrieking from