My conclusion he considered absurd.
"But you err in good company, Bunny, for all the cheap moralists
who preach the same twaddle: old Virgil was the first and worst
offender of you all. I back myself to climb out of Avernus any
day I like, and sooner or later I shall climb out for good. I
suppose I can't very well turn myself into a Limited Liability
Company. But I could retire and settle down and live blamelessly
ever after. I'm not sure that it couldn't be done on this pearl
alone!"
"Then you don't still think it too remarkable to sell?"
"We might take a fishery and haul it up with smaller fry. It
would come after months of ill luck, just as we were going to
sell the schooner; by Jove, it would be the talk of the Pacific!"
"Well, we've got to get it first. Is this von What's-his-name a
formidable cuss?"
"More so than he looks; and he has the cheek of the devil!"
As he spoke a white drill skirt fluttered past the open
state-room door, and I caught a glimpse of an upturned moustache
beyond.
"But is he the chap we have to deal with? Won't the pearl be in
the purser's keeping?"
Raffles stood at the door, frowning out upon the Solent, but for
an instant he turned to me with a sniff.
"My good fellow, do you suppose the whole ship's company knows
there's a gem like that aboard? You said that it was worth a
hundred thousand pounds; in Berlin they say it's priceless.
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