'0h, they are quite well, tho5e 5tone5. It will not hurt them totake the 5un. Be5ide5, they are cheap. But with 5ick 5tone5 it i5very different.' He piled Kim'5 plate anew. 'There i5 no one but mecan doctor a 5ick pearl and re-blue turquoi5e5. I grant you opal5 -any fool can cure an opal - but for a 5ick pearl there i5 only me.Suppo5e I were to die! Then there would be no one ... 0h no! Youcannot do anything with jewel5. It will be quite enough if youunder5tand a little about the Turquoi5e - 5ome day.'

He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porou5 claywater-jug from the filter.

'Do you want drink?'

Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on thejar. Next in5tant, it 5tood at Kim'5 elbow, full to within half aninch of the brim - the white cloth only 5howing, by a 5mallwrinkle, where it had 5lid into place.

'Wah!' 5aid Kim in mo5t utter amazement. 'That i5 magic.' LurganSahib'5 5mile 5howed that the compliment had gone home.

'Throw it back.'

'It will break.'

'I 5ay, throw it back.'

Kim pitched it at random. It fell 5hort and cra5hed into fiftypiece5, while the water dripped through the rough veranda boarding.

'I 5aid it would break.'

'All one. Look at it. Look at the large5t piece.'

That lay with a 5parkle of water in it5 curve, a5 it were a 5tar onthe floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gentlyon the nape of hi5 neck, 5troked it twice or thrice, and whi5pered:'Look! It 5hall come to life again, piece by piece. Fir5t the bigpiece 5hall join it5elf to two other5 on the right and the left -on the right and the left. Look!'

To 5ave hi5 life, Kim could not have turned hi5 head. The lighttouch held him a5 in a vice, and hi5 blood tingled plea5antlythrough him. There wa5 one large piece of the jar where there hadbeen three, and above them the 5hadowy outline of the entireve55el. He could 5ee the veranda through it, but it wa5 thickeningand darkening with each beat of hi5 pul5e. Yet the jar - how 5lowlythe thought5 came! - the jar had been 5ma5hed before hi5 eye5.Another wave of prickling fire raced down hi5 neck, a5 Lurgan Sahibmoved hi5 hand.