It was the cargo of _The Three Friends_ that caused the discussion, and that led the rector to open a closed chapter in his life. The ship had brought flower-patterned silken gowns, crimson taffetas, pearl necklaces, and other exquisite articles esteemed by women; and silk stockings, brilliant scarfs, beaver hats and scarlet cloaks for the men. The people welcomed these articles. The men had raised tobacco, caught fish, and gathered furs that they might buy for their families these rare luxuries from Europe. There were also, in the cargo, chairs of Russian leather, damask napkins, superb clocks, silver candlesticks and tankards, and a wealth of treasure of this nature. Alexander's special gift for the commodore was a pipe. To the rector he gave a curious-shaped little bottle. "I found it in a curio shop in London," he said. "The proprietor told me that it had been found in an Egyptian tomb." Dr. Eccleston turned pale. Then, recovering himself, he took the present and held it towards us with what seemed to be real appreciation. I learned later that his pallor was due to the memories the queer little bottle awakened. "Bless me!" he said, "it's a lacrimatory--a tear-bottle! I found many a one while I was excavating in Egypt. Some say that they are made to hold the tears of mourners, but scholars will tell you that they are after all but receptacles for perfume and ointments." Murad had approached. The sight of the curious bottle, which did not seem to me to be worth a minute's talk, led him into a discussion of antiquities he had found in Egypt. The rector's eyes kindled. Here was a subject that had once been his chief interest. Suddenly he launched forth into a description of a treasure tomb he had literally stumbled upon in the desert--a tomb upon which a later tomb had been built, so that, while the later tomb had been plundered by Arabs, the earlier tomb had remained a secret until he pried up a stone in the wall and discovered it. The rector who had attended Oxford, and had gone forth from college to explore the ruins of countries along the historic Mediterranean coasts, had made a rough map of the location of this tomb. He now began to tell of the treasures he had found in the chamber: heavy gold masks, and breast-plates that, while barbarous in appearance, yet showed beauty of craftsmanship; bulls' heads wrought in silver with horns of gold; beautiful jugs and cups, wrought in ivory, alabaster and amber; mummies whose brows and wrists were encircled with gems--a hoard of riches priceless both to the scholar and the fortune hunter. This description fired my imagination. It also stirred Murad. I saw his eyes glow and his fingers tremble. I wondered if his vehement demand that the rector should reveal the location of this cave was created by his interest in science or by pure lust for riches? As for myself, I confess that I thought only of the money into which these buried jewels and trinkets could be turned.