“Well, sir,” I said, “Kinlay and I did have a bit of a fight over at Bigging.  There was a dispute over the sharing of the treasure.”

And then I thought of the small black stone that Tom had given me as an equivalent of the bar of silver he had appropriated for himself.  It was not amongst the articles I had shown to the schoolmaster and the captain.  I thought that I had perhaps left it lying on the gravestone; but searching my pockets, I at last found it in one of them, where I had carelessly thrust it when the fight began.  I placed it on the table before Captain Gordon, who examined it curiously.

“What d’you make of this, sir?” asked he, turning to the dominie.  “The stone, if it is a stone at all, looks worthless; and yet I see this ring round it is the only piece of metal that is neither silver nor bronze, but gold.”

“Gold!” I exclaimed, bending over to look at it.

“Yes, gold undoubtedly,” said the captain.

Grace Drever, who had said little during the examination of the store of silver coins and ingots beyond asking questions as to the manner of our finding it, and giving utterance to such ejaculations as “Losh me!” and “Saw ever onybody the likes o’ that?” now took the black stone in her hand, and having pondered over it for a while, said, holding up her finger to me: 

“Laddie, take care of this peerie {ii} thing.  It will be of more worth to thee than all the other gear together.”

I did not quite understand.  The gold ring, I thought, could not surely be worth more than that heap of silver.  And yet Grace was so serious in what she said that I could scarcely doubt her word.

I was about to ask her for an explanation when we were interrupted by the lifting of the latch of the door, and a rush of cold air made the lamp light flicker.

Chapter XI.  My Sister Jessie.

We all turned to the door to see the cause of this interruption.  It was my sister Jessie who entered, and paused on the threshold as she observed the presence of a stranger.  She wore no covering on her head, and her brown hair fell in natural curls on her shoulders and about her neck.

Captain Gordon rose politely and stood with his hands clasping the back of his chair.  Jessie raised her large dark eyes towards him for a moment and looked confused.

I think this was the first time in my life that I felt conscious that my sister was more beautiful than any other Orkney girl I knew, with the one exception of Thora Kinlay.  She was at that time nineteen years of age; she was tall and graceful, and very easy in her movements.  It is true she had no accomplishments, such as those of Bailie Duke’s daughters; but her education in Mr. Drever’s school had been sound, and she could keep house as well as any fisherman’s wife in Orkney, and row a boat as well as any lad.

“Was it Halcro ye were seeking, Jessie?” asked old Grace, as though my sister’s presence there was a matter of as little concern to her as the presence of the old German clock in the corner of the room.