pon what I had heard. He had talked about diamonds; now I knew
what diamonds were, so far as they were of great value, for I had read
of them in the Bible, and Jackson had explained the value of precious
stones to me, and had told me of diamonds of very great value indeed.
Then he said that they were Henniker's diamonds--he must have meant my
father, that was positive. And that no one could prove they were his--
this implied that Jackson had no right to them; indeed how could he
have? And then I recalled to mind his having a secret hiding-place
under his bed, where I presumed the diamonds were deposited. I then
turned over in my mind what he had told me relative to the death of my
father, the captain, and my mother, how confused he was, and how glad he
was to get rid of the subject, and how unsatisfactory I thought his
account was at the time. After much cogitation, I made up my mind that
Jackson had not told me the truth, and that there was a mystery yet to
be explained but how was I to get at it? There was but one way. The
liquor made him talk. I would supply him with liquor, and by degrees, I
would get the truth out of him. At the same time I would not allow him
to suppose that he had said anything to commit himself, or that I had
any suspicions.

How naturally do we fall into treachery and deceit, from the evil in our
own hearts, without any assistance or example from the world. How could
I have learnt deceit? Isolated as I had been, must it not have been
innate?

I returned to the cabin, and woke Jackson without much difficulty, since
he had not drunk so much as on the previous night.

"How are you this morning?" said I.

"Not very well, I have had some bad dreams."

"Well, you sang me some beautiful songs," replied I.

"Yes, I recollect," said he; "but I fell asleep at last."

"Yes, you refused to sing any more, and went off in a loud snore."

Jackson got out of his bed-place, and I gave him his meal. We talked
during the whole day about singing, and I hummed the air which had
pleased me most.

"You have got the air pretty correct," said he; "you must have an ear
for music. Have you ever tried to sing?"

"No, never; you know I have not."

"You might have tried when I was not with you. Try now. I will sing a
tune, and then do you repeat it after me."

He did so, and I repeated it.

"Very good," said he. "Let's try the compass of your voice."

He ran up the gamut, and I followed him.