The ignorance of the value of precious stones is so
great, that half the men, meaning those who possess more or less of
fortune, do not even know the names of those of the commoner sorts. I
doubt, if one educated American in twenty could, even at this moment,
tell a sapphire from an amethyst, or a turquoise from a garnet; though
the women are rather more expert as lapidaries. Now, I was a true
American in this respect; and, while I knew I possessed a very
beautiful ornament, I had not the smallest idea of its value, as an
article of commerce. With the Major it was different. He had studied
such things, and he had a taste for them. The reader will judge of my
surprise, therefore, when I heard him say:--
"That necklace, in the hands of Rundle and Bridges, would bring a
thousand pounds, in London!"
"Father!" exclaimed Emily.
"I do think it. It is not so much the size of the pearls, though these
largest are not common even in that particular, but it is their
extreme beauty; their colour and transparency--their _water_, as
it is called."
"I thought that a term applied only to diamonds"--observed Emily, with
an interest I wished she had not manifested.
"It is also applied to pearls--there are pearls of what is called the
'white water,' and they are of the sort most prized in Europe.
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