the "heron" remained only a few hours at shark's bay, and then proceeded on her way, as they were anxious to reach fremantle as soon as possible.

it was not until he turned in at night that jack redland discovered the pearl was gone. he unstrapped the belt and placed it on his bunk, taking out the case in order to look at the treasure he thought it contained. he saw at once it had been tampered with, and pulling the spring found it was broken; a glance inside showed him it was empty, the pearl was gone.

for some moments he was stupefied, overwhelmed with dismay, and unable to act. it was difficult to believe the pearl was missing, yet there was no doubt about it. who had taken it? where was it now? these were questions he could not answer. he rushed on deck, half dressed, and encountered jacob rank.

"what's up now?" asked the astounded jacob, recognising something serious must have occurred.

"the pearl's gone," gasped jack.

"the pearl! which pearl?" asked jacob.

"the black pearl. it is not in the case."

"then it must have fallen out. have you looked about your cabin?"

"the lock has been forced; someone has stolen it," said jack.

"how could anyone steal it when you had the belt round you?"

"i do not know, but it has gone. what are we to do?"

"find it," said jacob. "it will be in your cabin somewhere. we will go and search for it."

"where's phil danks?" asked jack.

"having a rest. we can tell him what a fright you had when we have found it."

they went to jack's cabin and turned everything out, but no black pearl could they find.

jacob sat on a chest and looked at his companion.

"hand over the case," he said.

jack gave it him, and he examined it carefully.

"it has been forced with a knife, here are the scratches on it. how did the thief get hold of it? have you ever left it off when you turned in?"

"no," replied jack. "i always took the precaution to sleep with it on."

"could anyone take the case out of your belt and replace it while you were asleep?" asked jacob.

"impossible. i am a light sleeper, and the slightest touch would rouse me."

"we'll go and see what phil has to say about it," said jacob.

the skipper of the "heron" was dozing on his bunk when they roused him.

"what do you want?" he growled. "cannot you let a fellow have a decent night's rest?"

"you'll not rest much when you hear what has happened," said jacob.

"then keep the news till morning," replied phil.

"it is not the sort of news to keep. we must act at once. sit up and listen. the black pearl has been stolen."

phil danks was wide awake now, and sprang out of his bunk.

"what's that you say?"

"the black pearl has been stolen," said jacob.

"it is quite true," said jack, showing the empty case, and proceeded to explain how he discovered his loss.

"i can't make it out," said phil. "if you had the belt on at night, how the case was got at. when did you see it last?"

"when i went into my cabin the night before we entered shark's bay."

"then it must have been stolen during the night. i have it," he said, excitedly. "i'll bet a trifle one of those black fellows has it. they are as cunning as dingoes."

"you're right," said jacob. "i ought to have thought of that before, and i know which of 'em it is—kylis. why did he come sneaking round to see us playing cards? he was hanging about half the night, watching his chance."

"but how could he take the case out of my belt, without waking me, open it, and replace it?" asked jack.

"there's no telling what a black thief like him can do. they're clever all of 'em, and kylis is about the smartest of the lot. it's my belief he's in with amos hooker over this job. i had my doubts when you told me who got you the men. now i am certain amos had a hand in it. why did he not come back to the schooner again after taking them ashore? i thought it strange at the time, but i see his reason now. he thought if the loss of the pearl was discovered he might be asked nasty questions, difficult to answer."

"had we better put back and try and recover it?" asked jack.

"there's not much chance of that," said phil. "you see, we have no proof they have it, and even if we had we should not be able to recover it without paying a big reward. the best thing we can do is to get to fremantle as quickly as possible, lay the whole circumstances before barry tuxford, tell him our suspicions, and hear what he has to say."

jack felt relieved. he had great faith in barry, and thought he might probably devise some means to recover the pearl.

"he'll be very angry about it, i expect," said jack.

"oh, no, he won't. you do not know barry as well as i do," said jacob. "he seldom gets ruffled. we have a rich cargo on board, that will pay us all well without the black pearl, and he'll be satisfied. i'll tell you what he will do. he'll set himself to get that pearl from amos hooker, if he has it, and he knows the way to put the screw on."

"then you think there is some probability of getting it back?" said jack.

jacob shook his head as he replied—

"i doubt it; but if any man can recover it, that man is barry tuxford."

jack redland was exceedingly mortified at the loss of the black pearl. he had set his heart upon buying all the shares in it, and sending it to winifred. it puzzled him when he thought how it had been taken, for it must have been accomplished while he was asleep. he was determined to recover the pearl in some way. how, he had as yet formed no idea.

the "heron" arrived at fremantle in advance of the "wild cat," and the news that she was in the bay quickly reached perth.

barry tuxford lost no time in going to meet her, and there was considerable excitement amongst the pearl buyers over her arrival, for they were aware she had been on a sort of secret voyage to an unknown pearling ground. this was quite sufficient to arouse curiosity as to the result of the trip, and when barry appeared on the scene he was met by a chorus of inquiries.

"wait until i have been on board, then i shall be able to tell you how we have got on. up to now i know no more than yourselves."

"give me a chance if you want to sell any good ones," said silas filey, a well known buyer of pearls, and a curious character in his way. he was an old convict, sent out for some political offence many years ago, and had amassed a large fortune in buying and selling pearls. he always carried a huge pocket book stuffed with pearls in his inner coat pocket, and they were reckoned to be worth many thousands of pounds. silas had never been robbed, he was too dangerous to tackle, for he was particularly ready with his firearm, and had sent more than one desperate character to his account in his time.

silas filey did other things besides pearl dealing. he was credited with having assisted more convicts to escape from the settlement than any other man, and had thereby reaped a rich harvest. one man in particular he had got clear away, although there was no proof against him. this was a well-to-do englishman named "gentleman jack," who having got into trouble at home, was sent out to fremantle. it was currently reported "gentleman jack" promised five thousand pounds for his services if he succeeded in getting away to america. silas carried out his portion of the contract skilfully. "gentleman jack" got on board a vessel bound for america, landed there safely, and discharged his debt honourably.

barry tuxford knew silas well, and in divers transactions with him had found him a fair dealer.

"you shall have a chance, silas," he said, "if there is anything worth your while to look at. this is a sort of trial trip, and i do not know how it has panned out."

silas laughed as he replied—

"there are not many things you go into that do not pan out well. you made a big haul out of the great tom mine, did you not?"

"fair," replied barry cautiously, and inwardly thinking what a welcome surprise he had in store for jack redland.

"here's barry," said jacob, as he saw a boat shoot out and make for the schooner. "i'll keep out of the way a bit and give him a surprise later on. don't let on you have me on board, boys."

"we'll keep it dark as long as we can," replied phil, smiling. "but if barry asks questions about you he'll soon smell a rat."

there were hearty greetings when barry tuxford stepped on board the "heron."

"your friends at home would hardly recognise you," he said to jack, who was as brown as a berry, "but you look in splendid condition, and pearling evidently agrees with you. where's your pal? in the 'wild cat?'"

"yes," replied jack, "and she'll be in the bay to-night, i expect, she is never far behind."

"what sort of a trip have you had?" he asked. "i think you'll be quite satisfied," said jack. "we have some very good pearls on board, and many tons of valuable shell."

"it's the best pearl fishery i ever was on," said phil, "and next time, with more divers, it will turn out a big thing." he then proceeded to give barry a brief account of the trip and of the result.

"then jacob rank was right, after all, and those scoundrels were wrong. did you see any signs of him?"

"of jacob?" asked phil.

"yes; the crew said he was drowned, but i did not believe the story."

"and you were right," said a voice behind him, and turning round, he saw jacob alive and well.

barry tuxford shook him heartily by the hand and said—

"i thought you would pull through somehow, and i am very glad to see you."

"are any of my crew ashore here?" asked jacob.

barry laughed as he replied—

"you may find one or two, but if they get wind you are on board the 'heron' they will clear out quick, you may be sure of that."

"let me lay hands on them, and they'll wish they had never been born," said jacob.

barry tuxford went into jack's cabin and inspected the pearls. he was delighted with them and said—

"there will be a good division of profits out of this lot. good pearls are scarce and dear, and silas filey is on the look out for some."

"silas is always knocking around when there is a chance of a deal," said jacob. "it takes a clever man to bargain with him, but i think you are equal to it. what do you think our pearls are worth?"

"i cannot say off hand, but some hundreds of pounds, and then there is the shell. i shall equip another lot of schooners as soon as possible, and send you out again," said barry.

"i am willing to go," said jacob, "and i can speak for phil and hake moss. i don't know whether the 'new chums' will tackle the job again."

"i want mr. redland ashore if he will stay," said barry. "i have something more in his line than pearling."

"i enjoyed the trip," said jack, "but i shall be glad to stay with you for a time. have you discovered a champion amongst your horses?" he asked smiling.

"i think you will find one or two worth riding," said barry. "at any rate, you can try them, and give me the benefit of your opinion."

"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."