“What！——atreasure——dugup？“
　　“Yes——buriedwealth——treasuretrove。Comeoutoftheground。WhatIkeptonsaying——regulartreasure……“Helookedatmewithunusualdisrespect。
　　“Itwasn’tmorethanafootdeep，notthetopofit，“hesaid。
　　“I’d’ardlygotthirstylike，beforeIcomeonthecorner。“
　　“Goon，“Isaid。“Ididn’tunderstand。“
　　“Why！DirectlyI’ittheboxIknewitwastreasure。Asortofinstincttoldme。Somethingseemedtoshoutinsideofme——’Now’syourchance——
　　lielow。’It’sluckyIknewthelawsoftreasuretroveorI’d’avebeenshoutin’thereandthen。Idaresayyouknow——“
　　“Crownbagsit，“Isaid，“allbutonepercent。Goon。It’sashame。
　　Whatdidyoudo？“
　　“Uncoveredthetopofthebox。Therewasn’tanybodyinthegardenoraboutlike。Janewas’elping’ermotherdothe’ouse。IWAS
　　excited——Itellyou。Itriedthelockandthengaveawhackatthehinges。Openitcame。Silvercoins——full！Shining。Itmademetrembletosee’em。Andjestthen——I’mblessedifthedustmandidn’tcomeroundthebackofthe’ouse。Itprettynearlygaveme’eartdiseasetothinkwhatafoolIwasto’avethatmoneyshowing。AnddirectlyafterI’eardthechapnextdoor——’ewas’olidaying，too——
　　I’eardhimwatering’isbeans。Ifonly’e’dlookedoverthefence！“
　　“Whatdidyoudo？“
　　“Kickedthelidonagainandcoveredituplikeashot，andwentondiggingaboutayardawayfromit——likemad。Andmyface，sotospeak，waslaughingonitsownaccounttillIhadithid。ItellyouIwasregularscaredlikeatmyluck。Ijestthoughtthatit’adtobekep’closeandthatwasall。’Treasure，’Ikep’whisperin’
　　tomyself，’Treasure’and’’undredsofpounds，’undreds，’undredsofpounds。’Whisperingtomyselflike，anddigginglikeblazes。Itseemedtometheboxwasregularstickingoutandshowing，likeyourlegsdounderthesheetsinbed，andIwentandputalltheearthI’dgotoutofmy’olefortherockeryslapontopofit。IWAS
　　inasweat。Andinthemidstofitallouttoddles’erfather。
　　Hedidn’tsayanythingtome，jeststoodbehindmeandstared，butJanetolemeafterwardswhenhewentindoors，’esays，’Thattherejackanapesofyours，Jane’——healwayscalledmeajackanapessome’ow——’knows’owtoput’isbackintoitafterall。’Seemedquiteimpressedbyit，’edid。“
　　“Howlongwasthebox？“Iasked，suddenly。
　　“’Owlong？“saidMr。Brisher。
　　“Yes——inlength？“
　　“Oh！’boutso-by-so。“Mr。Brisherindicatedamoderate-sizedtrunk。
　　“FULL？“saidI。
　　“Fullupofsilvercoins——’arf-crowns，Ibelieve。“
　　“Why！“Icried，“thatwouldmean——hundredsofpounds。“
　　“Thousands，“saidMr。Brisher，inasortofsadcalm。“Icalc’lateditout。“
　　“Buthowdidtheygetthere？“
　　“AllIknowiswhatIfound。WhatIthoughtatthetimewasthis。
　　Thechapwho’downedthe’ousebefore’erfather’dbeenaregularslap-upburglar。Whatyou’dcalla’igh-classcriminal。Usedtodrive’istrap——likePeacedid。“Mr。Brishermeditatedonthedifficultiesofnarrationandembarkedonacomplicatedparenthesis。“Idon’tknowifItoldyouit’dbeenaburglar’s’ousebeforeitwasmygirl’sfather’s，andIknew’e’drobbedamailtrainonce，Ididknowthat。
　　Itseemedtome——“
　　“That’sverylikely，“Isaid。“Butwhatdidyoudo？“
　　“Sweated，“saidMr。Brisher。“Regularrunorfme。Allthatmorning，“
　　saidMr。Brisher，“Iwasatit，pretendingtomakethatrockeryandwonderingwhatIshoulddo。I’d’avetold’erfatherp’r’aps，onlyIwasdoubtfulof’ishonesty——Iwasafraidhemightrobmeofitlike，andgiveituptotheauthorities——andbesides，consideringIwasmarryingintothefamily，Ithoughtitwouldbenicerlikeifitcamethroughme。Putmeonabetterfooting，sotospeak。
　　Well，I’adthreedaysbeforemeleftofmy’olidays，sotherewasn’tnohurry，soIcovereditupandwentondigging，andtriedtopuzzleout’owIwastomakesureofit。OnlyIcouldn’t。
　　“Ithought，“saidMr。Brisher，“ANDIthought。OnceIgotregulardoubtfulwhetherI’dseenitornot，andwentdowntoitand’adituncoveredagain，justashermacameoutto’angupabitofwashin’
　　she’ddone。Jumpsagain！AfterwardsIwasjustthinkingI’d’aveanothergoatit，whenJanecomestotellmedinnerwasready。
　　’You’llwantit，’shesaid，’seeingallthe’oleyou’vedug。’
　　“Iwasinaregulardazealldinner，wonderingwhetherthatchapnextdoorwasn’toverthefenceandfilling’ispockets。ButintheafternoonIgoteasierinmymind——itseemedtomeitmust’avebeentheresolongitwasprettysuretostopabitlonger——andItriedtogetupabitofadiscussiontodrorouttheoldmanandseewhat’Ethoughtoftreasuretrove。“
　　Mr。Brisherpaused，andaffectedamusementatthememory。
　　“Theoldmanwasascorcher，“hesaid；“aregularscorcher。“
　　“What！“saidI；“didhe——？“
　　“Itwaslikethis，“explainedMr。Brisher，layingafriendlyhandonmyarmandbreathingintomyfacetocalmme。“Justtodror’imout，ItoldastoryofachapIsaidIknew——pretendin’，youknow——who’dfoundasovringinanovercoat’e’dborrowed。Isaid’estucktoit，butIsaidIwasn’tsurewhetherthatwasrightornot。Andthentheoldmanbegan。Lor’！’eDIDletme’aveit！“
　　Mr。Brisheraffectedaninsincereamusement。“’Ewas，well——whatyoumightcallarare’andatSnacks。Saidthatwasthesortoffriend’e’dnaturallyexpectmeto’ave。Said’e’dnaturallyexpectthatfromthefriendofaout-of-workloaferwhotookupwithdaughterswhodidn’tbelongto’im。There！Icouldn’ttellyou’ARF’esaid。
　　’Ewentonmostoutrageous。Istoodupto’imaboutit，justtodror’imout。’Wouldn’tyousticktoa’arf-sov’，notifyoufounditinthestreet？’Isays。’Certainlynot，’’esays；’certainlyIwouldn’t。’
　　’What！notifyoufounditasasortoftreasure？’’Youngman，’
　　’esays，’there’s’i’er’thoritythanmine——RenderuntoCaesar’——
　　whatisit？Yes。Well，hefetchedupthat。Arare’andat’ittingyouoverthe’edwiththeBible，wastheoldman。Andsohewenton。
　　’EgottosuchSnacksaboutmeatlastIcouldn’tstandit。I’dpromisedJanenottoanswer’imback，butitgotabitTOOthick。
　　I——Igiveit’im……“
　　Mr。Brisher，bymeansofenigmaticalfacework，triedtomakemethinkhehadhadthebestofthatargument，butIknewbetter。
　　“Iwentoutina’uffatlast。ButnotbeforeIwasprettysureI
　　’adtoliftthattreasurebymyself。Theonlythingthatkep’meupwasthinking’owI’dtakeitoutof’imwhenI’adthecash。“
　　Therewasalengthypause。
　　“Now，you’d’ardlybelieveit，butallthemthreedaysInever’adachanceattheblessedtreasure，nevergotoutnotevena’arf-crown。TherewasalwaysaSomethink——always。
　　“’Stonishingthingitisn’tthoughtofmore，“saidMr。Brisher。
　　“Findingtreasure’snogreatshakes。It’sgettin’it。Idon’tsupposeIslep’awinkanyofthosenights，thinkingwhereIwastotakeit，whatIwastodowithit，’owIwastoexplainit。
　　Itmademeregularill。AnddaysIwasthatdull，itmadeJaneregular’uffy。’Youain’tthesamechapyouwasinLondon，’shesays，severaltimes。Itriedtolayiton’erfatherand’isSnacks，butblessyou，sheknewbetter。Whatmustshe’avebutthatI’dgotanothergirlonmymind！SaidIwasn’tTrue。Well，wehadabitofarow。ButIwasthatsetontheTreasure，Ididn’tseemtomindabitAnythingshesaid。
　　“Well，atlastIgotasortofplan。Iwasalwaysabitgoodatplanning，thoughcarryingoutisn’tsomuchinmyline。Ithoughtitalloutandsettledonaplan。First，Iwasgoingtotakeallmypocketsfullofthese’ere’arf-crowns——see？——andafterwardsasI
　　shalltell。
　　“Well，IgottothatstateIcouldn’tthinkofgettingattheTreasureagaininthedaytime，soIwaiteduntilthenightbeforeIhadtogo，andthen，wheneverythingwasstill，upIgetsandslipsdowntothebackdoor，meaningtogetmypocketsfull。WhatmustIdointhescullerybutfalloverapail！Upgets’erfatherwithagun——’ewasalightsleeperwas’erfather，andverysuspiciousandtherewasme:’adtoexplainI’dcomedowntothepumpforadrinkbecausemywater-bottlewasbad。’Edidn’tletmeoffaSnackortwooverthatbit，youlayabob。“
　　“Andyoumeantosay——“Ibegan。