The floor was grimy and uninviting, the light bad.
In certain moods, however, a man is obstinate about small things, and I moved the taper nearer.

As I did so a point of light, a flashing sparkle that shone for a second among the dirt and refuse on the floor, caught my eye.

It was gone in a moment, but I had seen it.

I stared, and moved the light again, and the spark flashed out afresh, this time in a different place.

Much puzzled, I knelt, and, in a twinkling, found a tiny crystal.