"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."