"With pleasure," replied Jack. "It will be a treat to be on the back of a good horse again, and have a rousing gallop." "It will not be long before you have an opportunity," replied Barry. "We will talk the matter over when you come ashore with me. I like to keep the fellows waiting, so shall remain here until the 'Wild Cat' arrives. I should not be at all surprised if Silas comes off to see us; he's desperately eager to find out all about the trip." "We must keep it to ourselves," said Jacob. "I have no doubt we shall be followed next time, but we can put them off the scent with a little trouble." "Where is this bay?" asked Barry. "In the north-west, about four hundred miles beyond Shark's Bay, and it's a rum place to find," said Phil. "I doubt if we should have struck it if we had not seen Jacob's signal." "Then you found him in the bay?" "Yes; and he'd hoisted a flag on the rock jutting out to sea. It was about the best use he could have made of his shirt," laughed Phil. "There's something more to tell you," said Jack Redland. "It is the only bit of bad luck we had on the voyage." "Then it will keep," said Barry smiling. "Tell it me when we go ashore. Whatever it is I am quite satisfied with all you have done, and we cannot expect to always have good luck." "It was beastly bad luck," said Jacob, "but you can never trust those black beggars. Mr. Redland will tell you how it happened, and you are the man to recover the pearl." "You've let it out now," said Phil laughing. "A pearl? What pearl? Did you lose a valuable pearl?" asked Barry. "We did," said Jack, "a black pearl. I may as well tell you all about it." CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH _THE PEARL DEALER_ Barry Tuxford listened attentively to Jack's story of the stolen pearl, and when it was ended said, "There is no doubt in my mind that one of those black fellows Amos Hooker engaged for you, stole it during the night. It was cleverly done, and I am surprised he was successful. Such a pearl as you have described ought to be worth four or five thousand pounds, probably more, if we found the right customer. Someone who possesses one pearl of the sort would give a stiff sum to get a pair." "Do you think you will be able to recover it?" asked Jack, anxiously. "It's a toss up whether we do or not. If Amos Hooker has it, I think it can be managed, but it will have to be very carefully worked. It will be better to say nothing at all about it, and make no inquiries. Amos will keep it for some time before he tries to dispose of it, and if we leave him alone he may get careless. Black pearls are very scarce, and one the shape and size of ours will be easily recognised. On the whole, I think it may be recovered, but it will cost money." Jack was relieved to hear this, and said, when he and Barry were alone,-- "I have a particular reason for wishing to recover that pearl. Do you know what I intended doing if we had brought it here safely?" "No."