Ralph Stock

“ Paris....
A flush came to Madame Rénaud's cheeks, and her hands trembled over her work as she listened to what her husband was telling Jeanne.
"But yes, little one, there are other places in the world than the Taumotus; others even than Papeete, where you may remember making yourself ill with ice-cream. Where we are going there are shops filled with wonders, and at night lit up like fairyland. And it is cool there, even cold sometimes, so that you must wear little furs, and bowl a hoop through the gardens to keep warm. A hoop? Ah, you will soon learn all about hoops." ”

“ It was for Jeanne to find a way.
She would have told André of her trouble, but pride forbade. It was enough to have to go to him without a dot, and on the strict understanding that they should not leave the Taumotus as long as her father lived. André should not be imposed on further, she decided, though he appeared to like nothing better.
Often she would sit on the outer beach, hands clasped about knees, hair streaming in the wind, and ask counsel of the surf. It had always been her good friend, and one day it made answer. ”

“ Monsieur Rénaud swung open the door of the safe and exposed to view an atrocious collection of multi-coloured pipi. "As an expert, do these not interest you, Challier?" The old man placed a finger to his nose and spoke in an absurd whisper. "They will be Jeanne's, all Jeanne's. Note the lustre, the delicacy of colouring! He will be a wealthy man, the husband of my Jeanne." ”

“ Challier flung wide his huge hands. "For what else am I in these pestiferous Islands, mam'selle?"
"Pipi pearls?"
He puckered his thick lips and blinked at the corrugated iron roof of the store.
"From you, mam'selle, yes, I would buy pipi, though, as you know, they are from other shell than the pearl oyster, and of little marketable value."
Jeanne puckered her lips also. Challier found it an adorable sight. "It may be curious," she mused, "but I like pipi best. They are so colourful. Some are like gold."
"Exactly," grinned Challier; "they are like anything but pearl." ”

“ She had not known such things as Challier existed. He had said that this was "business." Did "business," then, transform all men into beasts of prey? Perhaps. Perhaps even André ... She was alone—alone in a new-found world that filled her with disgust and alarm.
And after an infinity of trouble the additional pearls became Challier's. At the time it seemed to Jeanne the only course. At least she received payment for them, and she could not be sure of even that in the future. So Monsieur Rénaud's toys had become a motley collection, an offence to the eye and practically worthless. ”

“ It was, and is, Jeanne's life to keep that from me. And she will have broken her promise if I let her know that I have detected the substitution of trash for my beloved pearls. For that is what she has been driven to, Challier, to keep us alive. And how can she account for doing such a thing except by admitting that we are penniless? I tell you, we who are blind have time to think. So I continue to play with my pearls, though it is hard work sometimes, hard work."
Monsieur Rénaud paused, then leant forward with startling suddenness. ”

“ It is only a matter of fashion. Who knows? Some day Paris may decree that pipi are de rigueur. Until then"—Challier shrugged his massive shoulders—"I fear I can offer you but little for your pipi, mam'selle."
"Fashion is stupid," said Jeanne.
"Stupid but inexorable," added Challier.
"So that I shall take advantage of it where I may," proceeded Jeanne, with a toss of her small head. "But you have misunderstood me. I have no pipi to sell. I wish to buy them, for a necklace." Challier's gaze became fixed. "Or, if you will, to exchange real pearls for them. ”

“ PEARLS OF PRICE
By RALPH STOCK
DOWN there in the Taumotus the sun is not to be trifled with. It pours out of the sky like molten brass, and where it falls unchecked sears the earth as with living flame. Not a blade of grass is to be seen in these atolls, and even the coral of which they are formed is bleached to a deathly pallor.
Yet here Monsieur Rénaud lived and throve, for the lagoons of the Taumotus are natural storehouses of treasure unequalled in the world, and he had forced their locks. ”

“ What went on in Challier's store for the next week no one knew, for it was shut. But the Taumotus are a curious place, and superstition thrives there. Moreover it is difficult to avoid signs and portents when living alone on an atoll infested by them, and still more difficult when one's only company is the bottle.
When the authorities forced an entrance, they found a trembling wreck of a man, who could do no more than thrust into their hands a small square package containing pearls, and gibber about the eyes of Monsieur Rénaud. ”

“ While her husband sat smiling across the lagoon, or crooning over his pearls, it was hers to devise ways and means of saving him from anxiety and harbouring the slim resources that remained from the wreckage of his fortune. So the lean years dragged on. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1962, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 61 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”