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A thing that glistened. In the
fall of eighteen eighty eight, the steamship

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Sunda from Southampton was running along the
southern coast of Long Island, not many

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hours from port, when she was
passed by one of the great British liners

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outward bound. The tide was high, and the course of both vessels was

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nearer the coast than as usual,
that of the Sunda being inside of the

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other. As the two steamers passed
each other, there was a great waving

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of hats and handkerchiefs. Suddenly there
was a scream from the Sunda. It

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came from Senora Rochita, the primadonna
of an opera troop which was coming to

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America. In that ship, I
have lost my bracelet, she cried in

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Italian, and then turning to the
passengers, she repeated the cry in very

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good English. The situation was instantly
comprehended by everyone. It was late in

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the afternoon. The captain had given
a grand dinner to the passengers, at

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which the Primadonna had appeared in all
all her glories of ornamentation, and the

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greatest of these glories, a magnificent
diamond bracelet was gone from the arm with

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which she had been enthusiastically waving her
lace handkerchief. The second officer, who

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was standing near dashed into the captain's
office and quickly reappeared with chart and instruments,

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and made rapid calculation of the position
of the vessel at the time of

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the accident, making an allowance for
the few minutes it had passed since the

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first cry of the Senora. After
consultation with the captain and recalculations of the

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distance from land and some other points, he announced to the weeping Signora that

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her bracelet lay under a little black
spot he had made on the chart,

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and that if she chose to send
a diver for it, she might get

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it, for the depth of water
at that place was not great by profession,

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I am a diver, and the
next day I was engaged to search

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for the diamond bracelet of Senora Rochita. I had a copy of the chart,

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and having hired a small schooner with
several men who had been my assistance

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before, and taking with me all
the necessary accouterments and appliances, I set

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out for the spot indicated, and
by afternoon we were anchored we believed at

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or very near it. I lost
no time. In descending. I wore,

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of course, the usual diver's suit, but I took with me no

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tools nor any of the implements used
by divers when examining wrecks, but carried

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in my right hand a brilliant electric
lamp connected with a powerful battery on the

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schooner. I held this by an
insulated handle in which there were two little

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knobs by which I could light or
extinguish it. The bottom was hard and

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smooth, and lighting my lamp,
I began to look about me. If

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I approached the bracelet, I ought
to be able to see it sparkle,

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But after wandering over considerable space,
I saw no sparkles, nor anything like

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a bracelet. Suddenly, however,
I saw something which greatly interested me.

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It was a hole in the botto
the ocean, almost circular and at least

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ten feet in diameter. I was
surprised that I had not noticed it before,

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for it lay not far from the
stern of our vessel. Standing near

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the rocky edge of the aperture.
I held up my lamp and looked down.

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Not far below, I saw the
glimmer of what seemed to be the

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bottom of this subterranean well. I
was seized with a desire to explore this

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great hole running down under the ordinary
bottom of the sea. I signaled to

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be lowered, and although my comrades
were much surprised at such an order,

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they obeyed, and down I went
to the well. The sides of this

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seemed rocky and almost perpendicular, but
after descending about fifteen feet, they receded

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on every side, and I found
myself going down into a wide cavern,

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the floor of which I touched in
a very short time. Holding up my

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lamp and looking about me, I
found myself in a sea cave some thirty

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feet in diameter, with a dome
like roof, in which a little to

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one side of the center was the
lower opening of the well. I became

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very much excited. This was just
the sort of place into which a bracelet

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or anything else of value might be
expected to have the bad luck to drop.

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I walked about and gazed everywhere,
but I found nothing but rocks and

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water. I was about the signal
to be drawn up, when above me

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I saw what appeared to be a
flash of darkness coming down through the well

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with a rush and a swirl that
entered the cavern and in a moment I

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recognized the fact that a great fish
was swooping around and about me. Its

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movements were so rapid and irregular,
now circling along the outer edge of the

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floor of the cavern, then mounting
above me until its back seemed to scrape

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the roof, that I could not
form a correct idea of the size of

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the creature. It seemed to me
to be at least twenty feet long.

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I stood almost stupefied, keeping my
eyes as far as possible fixed upon the

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swiftly moving monster. Sometimes it came
quite near me when I shuddered in every

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fiber, and then he shot away, but ever gliding with powerful undulations of

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his body and tail, around about
and above me. I did not dare

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to signal to be drawn up,
for fear that the terrible creature would enter

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the well hole with me. Then
he would probably touch me, perhaps crush

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me against the wall. But my
mind was capable of forming no plans.

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I only hoped the fish would ascend
and disappear. By the way he came.

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My mind was not in the strongest
condition, being much upset by a

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great trouble, and I was so
frightened that I really did not know what

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I ought to do, but I
had sense enough left to feel sure that

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the fish had been attracted into the
cavern by my lamp. Obviously the right

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thing to do was to extinguish it. But the very thought of this nearly

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drove me into a frenzy. I
could not endure to be left alone with

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the shark in darkness and water.
It was an insane idea, but I

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felt that whatever happened, I must
keep my eyes upon him. Now the

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great fish began to swoop nearer and
nearer to me, and then, suddenly

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changing its tactics, it receded to
the most distant wall of the cavern,

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where with its head toward me,
it remained for the first time motionless.

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But this did not continue long.
Gently turning over on its side, it

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opened its great mouth, and in
an instant, with a rush, it

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came directly at me. My light
shone full into its vast mouth, glistening

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with teeth, and there was a
violent jerk which nearly threw me from my

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feet, and all was blackness.
The shark had swallowed my lamp. By

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rare good fortune, he did not
take my hand. Also. Now I

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frantically tugged my signal rope. Without
my lamp, I had no thought but

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a desire to be pulled out of
the water, no matter what happened.

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In a few minutes, I sat, divested of my diving suit and almost

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insensible, upon the deck of the
schooner. As soon as I was able

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to talk, I told my astonished
comrades what had happened. And while we

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were discussing this strange occurrence, one
of them, looking over the side,

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saw slowly rising to the surface the
body of a dead shark. By George,

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he cried, here is the beast. He has been killed by the

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current from the battery. We all
crowded to the rail and looked down upon

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the monster. He was about ten
feet long, and it was plain that

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he had died for making himself the
connection between the poles of the battery well,

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said the captain pleasantly. I suppose
you are not going down again?

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Not I, I replied, I
give up this job. Then suddenly I

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cried, come boys, all of
you, make fast of that shark and

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get him on board. I want
him. Some of the men laughed,

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but my manner was so earnest that
in a moment they all set about to

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help me. A small boat was
lowered, lines were made fast to the

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dead fish with block and tackle,
and we hauled him on deck. I

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then got up butcher's knife from the
cabin and began to cut him open.

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Look here, Tom, exclaimed the
captain. That's nonsense. Your lamp's all

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smashed to pieces, and if you
get it out, it'll never be any

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good to you. I don't care
for the lamp, I answered, working

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away energetically. But an idea has
struck me. It's plain that this creature

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had a fancy for shining things.
If he swallowed a lamp, there is

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no reason why he should not have
swallowed anything else that glittered. Uh oh,

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cried the captain. You think he
swallowed the bracelet, do you?

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And instantly everybody crowded more closely about
me. I got out the lamp.

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Its wires were severed as smoothly as
if they had been cut by shears.

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Then I worked on. Suddenly there
was a cry from every man. Something

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glimmered in the dark interior of the
fish. I grasped it and drew it

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out. It was not a bracelet, but a pint bottle, which glimmered

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like a glowworm. With the bottle
in my hand, I sat upon the

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deck and gazed at it. I
shook it. It's shone brighter. A

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bit of oiled silk was tied tightly
over the cork, and it was plain

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to sea that it was partly filled
with a light colored oil into which a

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bit of phosphorus had been dropped,
which, on being agitated, filled the

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bottle with a dim light. But
there was something more in the bottle than

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phosphorus and oil. I could see
a tin tube corked at each end,

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and the exposed parts of the corks
spreading enough to prevent the tin from striking

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the glass. We all knew that
this was one of those bottles containing a

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communication of some sort, which are
often thrown into the sea and float about

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until they are picked up. The
addition of the oil and phosphorus was intended

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to make it visible by night as
well as by day, and this was

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plainly the reason why it had been
swallowed by a light loving shark. I

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poured out the oil and extracted the
tube, wiping it carefully, I drew

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out the corks, and then from
the little tin cylinder I pulled a half

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sheet of notepaper rolled up tightly.
I unrolled it and read these words before

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I jump overboard. I want to
let people know that I killed John Polhemus,

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so I have fixed up this bottle. I hope it may be picked

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up in time to keep Jim Barker
from being hung. I did think of

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leaving it on the steamer, but
I might change my mind about jumping overboard,

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and I guess this is the best
way. The clothes I wore and

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the hatchet I did it with are
under the woodshed back of Polhemus's house.

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Henry Ramsey, I sprang to my
feet with a yell. Jim Barker was

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my brother, now lying in prison
under sentence of death for the murder of

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Polhemus. All the circumstantial evidence,
and there was no other, had been

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against him. The note was dated
eight months back, Oh, cruel fool

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of a murderer. The shark was
thrown overboard and we made best speed the

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port, and before the end of
the afternoon I had put Ramsey's note into

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the hands of the lawyer who had
charge of my brother's case. Fortunately he

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00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:07,360
was able to identify the handwriting and
signature of Ramsay, a man who had

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been suspected of the crime, but
against whom no evidence could be found.

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The lawyer was almost as excited as
I was by the contents of this note,

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and early the next morning we started
together for the house of the Polhemus

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family. There under the woodshed we
found carefully buried a blood stained shirt and

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vest, and the hatchet. My
impulse was to fly to my brother,

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but this my lawyer forbade he would
take charge of the affair, and no

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false hopes must be excited. But
he confidently assured me that my brother was

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as good as free. Returning to
the city, I thought I might as

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well make my report to Signora Rochita. The lady was at home and saw

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me. She showed the most intense
interest in what I told her, and

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insisted upon every detail of my experiences. As I spoke of the shark and

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the subterranean cave, she nearly fainted
from it excitement, and her maid had

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to bring her smelling salts. When
I had finished, she looked at me

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steadily for a moment, and then
said, I have something to tell you,

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00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,600
but I hardly know how to say
it. I never lost my bracelet.

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I intended to wear it at the
Captain's dinner. But when I went

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to put it on, I found
the clasp was broken, and as I

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was late, I hurried to the
table without the bracelet, and thought of

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00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,759
it no more until when we were
all waving and cheering, I glanced at

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my wrist and found it was not
there. Then, utterly forgetting that I

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had not put it on, I
thought it had gone into the sea.

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It was only this morning that,
opening what I supposed was the empty box,

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I saw it. Here it is. I never saw such gorgeous jewels,

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00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,519
Madam said I. I am glad
you thought you lost it, for

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I have gained something better than all
these. You are a good man,

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said she, and then she paid
me liberally for my services. When this

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00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,759
business had been finished, she asked, are you married? I answered that

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00:13:05,799 --> 00:13:11,559
I was not. Is there any
one you intend to marry? Yes,

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00:13:11,879 --> 00:13:16,399
said I. What is her name? She asked, Sarah Jane McElroy.

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00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,799
Wait a minute, said she,
and she retired into another room. Presently

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she returned and handed me a little
box. Give this to your lady,

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00:13:26,799 --> 00:13:31,720
love, said she. When she
looks at it, she will never forget

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that you are a brave man.
When Sarah Jane opened the box. There

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was a little pin with a diamond
head, and she gave a scream of

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delight. But I saw no reason
for jumping or crying out, for after

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having seen the Signora's bracelet, this
stone seemed like a pea in a bushel

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00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,480
of potatoes. I don't need anything, she said to remind me that you

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are a brave man. I am
going to buy furniture with it. Py

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laughed and remarked that every little helps
when I sit with my wife by my

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00:14:03,399 --> 00:14:09,159
side before the fire, and our
comfortable home, and consider that the parlor

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00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,120
carpet and the furniture, and the
pictures, and the hall and stair carpet,

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00:14:13,399 --> 00:14:16,080
and all the dining room furniture with
the china and the glass and the

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00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,279
linen, and all the kitchen utensils, and two bedroom suits on the second

194
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,879
story, both hardwood, and all
the furniture and fittings of a very pleasant

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00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:31,120
room for a single man the third
story front were bought with the pin that

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the signor gave to Sarah Jane.
I am filled with profound respect for things

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00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,000
that glitter. And when I look
on the other side of the fire and

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00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,200
see Jim smoking his pipe, just
as happy as anybody. Then I say

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00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,559
to myself that if there are people
who think that this story is too much

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00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:50,039
out of the common I wish they
would step in here and talk to Jim

201
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,639
about it. There is a fire
in his eyes when he tells you how

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00:14:54,639 --> 00:14:58,240
glad he is that it was the
shark instead of him. That is very

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00:14:58,279 --> 00:15:03,480
convincing, and of a thing that
glistened by Frank R. Stockton