"You can help me and yourselves as well," he said. "These schooners are going north to some bay Jacob Rank discovered, and where he says there are many shells. This may be true, or it may not; in any case it matters very little to you, for you will be paid. If they find much shell there will be good pearls, and good pearls are rare, Kylis. I like good pearls." The black showed his teeth in a broad grin; then he opened his mouth wide, showing a huge cavity. He closed it with a snap, made a show of swallowing something, and then rubbed his stomach. "Quite so," said Amos. "You have swallowed pearls before, and can do it again, but on this trip you will have to adopt some other method of hiding them." Miah grunted curiously, and then said-- "We can hide pearls, you can be sure of that." "If they find you out you will have a bad time, so you had better be careful," said Amos. "Anyway, I suppose you will go?" They both assented, and he said-- "If you find good pearls and bring them to me, I can get a price for them. You cannot do so, therefore it will be to your interests to hand them over to me." They nodded, and understood perfectly well what he required of them. There were many ways of hiding pearls on a schooner, and expert divers had but little difficulty in concealing them. The pearl fishing in Shark's Bay proved so unsatisfactory that Phil Danks strongly advised a move to the north-west. "Hooker was about right," he said. "The place is worked out; we shall have no luck here, and it is a waste of time." It was eventually decided, after a consultation, to clear out of Shark's Bay and make tracks for Jacob Rank's bay, where they hoped to find him, and many pearls as well. This decision was communicated to Amos Hooker, who made it an excuse for not getting more than two divers to go with them. "They are splendid fellows," he said, "you'll not find two better anywhere. Of course, they require watching, most of them do, but they work well, and are on the whole honest." He brought Kylis and Miah on board the "Heron," and Phil Danks liked the look of them, but was curious as to how they came to be at Shark's Bay with Hooker. He knew very well they were natives, who had seen a good deal of travelling, and was surprised at their knowledge of English. Amos, in answer to his inquiries, gave a plausible account of how he came to find them, but did not state they were on the "Mary Hatchett" with him. Terms were fixed, and the two men sailed on the "Heron." Amos Hooker, as he watched the schooners leave the bay, wondered what would be the result of the trip. If there was a rich haul he had no doubt he would come in for a share. The position of Rank's Bay, as Phil Danks named it, was unknown to them, but they were determined to find it, and when such men as these skippers make up their minds to do a thing they generally succeed.