And we was strainin' our eyes
to see what the faint light of the torch was tryin' to show up. All of
a sudden I reaches in and makes a grab at something, bringin' out a
fistful.
"Hard money," says I, "or I don't know the feel!"
"Why, it--it's gold!" says Vee, bringin' her flashlight close.
"There's more of it, a lot more!" shouts Killam, who has his head and
shoulders inside and is pawin' around excited. "Quarts and quarts of
it! And jewels, too! I say, Mr. Ellins! Jewels! Didn't I tell you
we'd find 'em? See, here they are. See those! And those! Didn't I
say so?"
"You did, Captain," admits Old Hickory. "You certainly did. And for a
time I was just ass enough to believe you, wasn't I?"
"Oh, Auntie!" calls Vee. "We've found it! Honest to goodness we have.
Come and see."
"As though I wasn't coming as fast as I could, child!" says Auntie, who
has scrambled over the bow somehow and is plowin' towards us with her
skirts gripped high on either side.
Thrillin'! Say, I don't believe any of us could tell just what we did
do for the next half hour or so. I remember once Old Hickory got
jammed into the hole and we had to pry him out. And another time, when
we was rollin' out the cask, it was Auntie who helped me pull it
through and ease it down the slope.
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