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caskets as they did their gold and precious stones. Their
descendants can now sell this form of superrefined
ambergris for fabulous sums.
Then Jan s ambre blanc, Cherry put in, may be
very valuable?
I imagine so, Kirk agreed. You see a little of the
pulverized stuff goes a long way. When I was a kid
a chemist friend of mine let me watch him prepare
the tincture. First he crushed a small stone of it with
mortar and pestle. Pretty much the way you prepare
Tim s sulfa. He smiled. Then he added alcohol at
96° in a proportion of 8 liters to 1,000 grams of pow-
dered ambergris. The mixture was allowed to stand,
with occasional stirring, in an open container for eight
days. Then the alcohol was poured off and another
170 CHERRY AMES, CRUISE NURSE
8 ounces poured over the residue. After eight wash-
ings, my chemist friend had 40 liters of the tincture
which he filtered into another container and left to
age in a warm place for about six months. Then he
started all over again with the settling.
You mean what was left of the original 1,000 grams?
Cherry demanded incredulously.
That s right, Kirk grinned. It goes on almost
endlessly like the story of the ants who kept going into
the granary and bringing out another grain of wheat.
After the chemists exhaust the settling and I do mean
exhaust it is dried and ground and then used in sachet
powders. They literally don t waste a grain of it.
Cherry sighed. Well, I m glad you know all about it.
I couldn t quite believe it was as valuable as Jan claims
it is. What does it smell like, Kirk?
That depends on the quality, he told her. A highly
refined lot of ambre blanc would be faintly reminiscent
of incense in a church, plus the seaweedy mustiness of
the tide on the high seas. That s a much more exotic
odor than the tide on a beach, you know. There s a
muskiness through it all and sometimes a trace of an
aroma that makes you think of expensively blended
tobacco.
Cherry went on with her story then. Kirk listened
soberly and when she had finished he said, There s
nothing we can do, Cherry, except advise Jan to
cable the lawyer at once to come aboard in person
and get that sealed envelope. A messenger might be
intercepted.
MILK OF MAGNESIA 171
But, Cherry protested, why can t we lay the
matter before the captain? Make him put the package
in his own safe? Surely, he would when we tell him it
contains priceless ambergris!
Kirk threw back his head, roaring with laughter. You
are a landlubber, Cherry Ames! In the first place, the Old
Man would have apoplexy if he heard you were probing
into the passengers personal affairs. In the second, leav-
ing you out of it, he would immediately ask for my res-
ignation. Shipboard protocol forbids my activity in any
department except the medical department. Reporting
our suspicions to him would be like telling him how to
avoid a collision at sea. We leave radar to him, and he
leaves sick bay to us. We re subjects of a little autocracy,
if you like, but that s the way it is.
Cherry sighed. I m so afraid Mr. Henry Landgraf
will steal that ambergris before we dock on Tuesday. If
he does, Jan will have to give up her hopes of becoming
an artist.
Kirk grinned. You don t know that Mr. Landgraf
is the villain in the case. Someone else might have
crumpled up that letter and thrown it away, thinking
there was no clue in it as to the whereabouts of the
ambergris. Mr. Landgraf might have picked it up and
read it out of idle curiosity. Seems like a nice enough
fellow to me. Spends a lot of time amusing Tim even
offered to carry him up to see the tree this evening.
But don t you see? Cherry wailed. He s just using
Timmy so he can have opportunities to search that
cabin.
172 CHERRY AMES, CRUISE NURSE
I wouldn t be too sure of that, Kirk Monroe said
mildly. Tim has impressed everyone who entered his
presence into service. He even got me playing hot
and cold in the search for his Fuzzy-Wuzzy. And to
think it was at the bottom of the pool all along.
Cherry sucked in her breath. How much did Dr.
Monroe know about that?
But the surgeon went on easily, I gather his mother
finally retrieved the panda last night. Can t imagine why
one of the pool attendants didn t discover it before.
It was lying on the bottom in the shadow of the
diving board, Cherry blurted. Too late, she could have
bitten off her tongue.
Fortunately the young doctor did not notice her blun-
der. So that was the answer, he said incuriously, adding,
I imagine you want to go along now and have a chat with
Jan Paulding about that cable. Unofficially, in an advi-
sory capacity only, I ll help every way I can. He stared
thoughtfully down at his hands. I rather hope, Cherry,
that Mr. Camelot won t find any ambergris in that sealed
package. If he does, he will almost certainly report both
Ziggy s and Waidler s negligence to the captain.
He shook his head. They both have excellent
records as loyal and conscientious employees of long
standing. It would be a shame if their careers had
to end in disgrace due to such minor infractions of
duty. He pointed to the itemized list in the letter.
Less honest persons would have dumped that stuff
overboard without a qualm.
MILK OF MAGNESIA 173
Cherry hadn t thought about that angle of Jan s
problem. Now she saw all too clearly that this bit of
scuttlebutt must never reach the captain s ears. She
took the bull by the horns:
Kirk, she said hesitantly, you can be a big help
right now by answering one simple question. If you
don t want to answer me, I ll get Jan to ask you the
same question. Did her uncle say anything before he
lost consciousness? Anything at all significant?
Kirk Monroe ran his long, surgeon s fingers along
the edge of his glass-topped desk. Now that you
remind me, he did say something which may or may
not be significant. At the time I thought his mind was
wandering, because shortly after that he lapsed into a
coma. At first he merely complained of a pain in his
chest, then when his breathing became more labored,
he beckoned to me with one hand and pointed to the
bathroom with the other. I could hardly make out what
he was saying, but it sounded like:
Milk of magnesia. Please, Doc, give me milk of
magnesia.
I remember, Kirk went on, Ziggy grunted and
tapped his forehead. I felt the same way about the
request. What good would milk of magnesia do to a
man dying with a blood clot in his lung?
Not much, Cherry admitted. Is that all he said?
That s all he had time for, Kirk told her. It all hap-
pened very quickly, I had hardly time to send for the
nurse and Ziggy. Then his lawyer came aboard and
174 CHERRY AMES, CRUISE NURSE
took him ashore. I signed the necessary papers, and
that was that.
Cherry suddenly jumped up. Oh, Kirk, she cried.
Don t you see? Milk of magnesia bottles are generally
made of cloudy, blue glass. You couldn t tell, unless
you examined them carefully, whether they contained
a powder or a liquid. The magnesia itself often forms
a white powdery crust around the neck of the bottle.
What a perfect hiding place for a pint of priceless
ambergris!
chapter xvi
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