midday
Cheered by the discovery of the blue diamond , I now determined to look closely for others in the vicinity of the pool , but days of laborious searching brought no reward except that the work helped more and more to clear my foggy brain and bring me back to full sanity . I felt convinced that diamonds were there , not far off , however , and one day as I vainly sorted over the gravel where I had found the others , the solution came to me . In the pool , in the white sand that shone so at the bottom , there I should find them ! It was deep and narrow , this pool , and a difficult task even for a good diver ; and I determined to wait till midday , when the sun shone full on the bottom . When the time came I plunged in , and a rapid stroke or two took me to the bottom . The water was clear as crystal ; and now I could see clearly why it had looked so white and sparkled so when seen through the rippling surface . Stretched upon the white sand lay the chalk-white skeleton of a man , the grinning mouth and sightless eyes staring up at me in a hideous travesty of mirth ; and all around between the outstretched bones lay diamonds , diamonds innumerable : big , bright , sparkling beauties by the handful , wealth incredible to be had for the picking up , with no guardian other than these bare bones of a long dead man .