As they believed that the white slaves must have a perfect knowledge of the subject upon which they were themselves so ignorant, they closely scanned the countenances of the latter as the block of the ballast was drawn out upon the dry sand. They were rewarded for their scrutiny. The surprise exhibited by Sailor Bill and the three mids confirmed the wreckers in their belief that they were saving something of grand value; for, in fact, had the block of sandstone been a monstrous nugget of gold, the boy slaves could not have been more astonished at beholding it. Their behaviour increased the ardour of the salvers in the pursuit in which the were engaged, along with the envy of the rival party; who, by the laws of the Saaran coast, were not allowed to participate in their toil. The Krooman now endeavoured to undeceive his master as to the value of the "salvage", telling him that what their rivals were taking out of the sunken ship was nothing but worthless stone. But his statement was met with a smile of incredulity. Those engaged in getting the ballast ashore regarded the Krooman's statements with equal contempt. He was either a liar or a fool, and therefore unworthy of the least attention. With this reflection they went on with their work. After some time spent in reconsidering the subject, the old sheik called the Krooman aside; and when out of hearing of the wreckers asked him to give an explanation of the real nature of what he himself persisted in calling the "cargo" of the wreck, as well as a true statement of its value. The slave did as he was desired; but the old sheik only shook his head, once more declaring his incredulity. He had never heard of a ship that did not carry a cargo of something valuable. He thought that no men would be so stupid and foolish as to go from one country to another in ships loaded only with worthless stones. As nothing else in the shape of cargo was found aboard the wreck, the stones must be of some value. So argued the Arab. While the Krooman was trying to explain the real purpose for which the stones had been placed in the hold of the vessel, one of the wreckers came up and informed him that a white man was in one of their tents, that he was ill, and wished to see and converse with the infidel slaves, of whose arrival he had just heard. The Krooman communicated this piece of intelligence to our adventurers; and the tent that contained the sick white man having been pointed out to them, they at once started towards it, expecting to see some unfortunate countryman, who, like themselves, had been cast away on the inhospitable shores of the Saara. CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR. ANOTHER WHITE SLAVE.