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Ten days later than the events just recorded in the last chapter, Iola
Conroyal and Ruth Randolph sat swinging in a hammock, stretched under
the broad porch that shaded the front of the Conroyal house.
"I wish we could hear from our dads and the boys," Iola said, as the two
girls swung gently back and forth. "It seems like a long time now since
Thure and Bud left us; and we haven't heard a word from them since they
went away; and so many things might have happened to them. Why, they may
already have found the Cave of Gold, and right at this moment they may
be picking up gold nuggets by the basketful!" and her dark eyes sparkled
at the thought.
"Yes, it has been a long time since we heard from the mines," answered
Ruth; "and our mothers are beginning to worry, more than they let us
know. They are afraid that the hunt for the Cave of Gold will get them
into some kind of trouble with the men who murdered the old miner for
the skin map, and then failed to get it. And--and not to hear a word
from them, when so many things might happen, is terrible worrying. Oh, I
do hope they find that Cave of Gold, and get enough gold to make us rich
all the rest of our lives!" and her face brightened. "That is the way it
would come out in a story book; and I can't see why it can't happen that
way in real life, just this once. I dreamt, only last night, that they
came back with a string of horses a mile long and all of them loaded
down with gold. And--and," and her face flushed a little, "Thure brought
me a nugget as big as my head, and a necklace of nuggets that reached to
the ground, when he threw it around my neck. Oh, if something like that
would only happen in real life!" and she laughed merrily at her own
extravagant conceit.
"And I dreamt--" and then Iola stopped abruptly.
A faint halloo, coming from far-off, at this moment had reached the ears
of both girls, and brought them out of the hammock in one jump, and
turned their two pairs of eyes to staring excitedly across the level of
the valley in front of the house.
A mile away they saw two horsemen, swinging their hats around their
heads and hallooing loudly, riding excitedly toward the house; and back
of them came a long train of horses and men.
For a minute the two girls stood, as if turned to stone, staring with
widening eyes at those two horsemen, at the train of horses and men
behind them; and then, with a yell that made their mothers jump from the
chairs where they were sitting in the cool of the house and rush to the
door, they leaped off the porch and ran toward the two horsemen.
"It's Thure and Bud! It's dad and the rest!" they shouted, as they ran.
In a few minutes the racing boys--for the two horsemen were Thure and
Bud--and the running girls met.
The boys jumped from their saddles, and, the next instant, they were in
the arms of the girls.
"We found it! We found it!" shouted Thure, a moment later, dancing up
and down with excitement. "We found the Cave of Gold! And here," and he
thrust one of his hands into his pocket, "is your breastpin nugget!" and
he handed the big gold nugget he had found to Ruth. "And here is your
necklace of gold nuggets!" and he threw over the happy girl's head and
around her neck a long string of gold nuggets that he had strung on a
deer sinew, during the homeward journey.
Bud, during this time, had been going through the same delightful
performance with Iola.
That was the most wonderful night in the history of the Conroyal and the
Randolph households!
First, of course, after the greetings were over, the gold had to be
taken off the horses and carried into the house and piled up in the
center of the floor of the big room; and then, with all of the two
families and all of the friends who took part in the search for the Cave
of Gold, not forgetting you may be sure Mr. and Mrs. Dickson, seated in
a circle around the piled-up bags of gold, the story of the adventures
of Thure and Bud and the finding of the dead miner's marvelous Cave of
Gold had to be told.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Iola happily, when, at last, the tale was
ended. "It is just like a story out of a book; and I wouldn't believe it
at all, if I couldn't see the gold piled up right in front of me. Now,"
and her eyes looked wonderingly at the bags of gold, "how much is all
that gold worth? Is it worth a Hundred Thousand Dollars?" and her eyes
grew big with the thought of the enormous wealth that lay within touch
of her hand.
"I reckon it is," laughed Mr. Conroyal. "But, supposing we see just
about how much it is worth. Thure, you and Bud go and get the big
scales, and we will weigh it."
In a few minutes the two boys returned, carrying between them a small
platform scales, capable of weighing a few hundred pounds at a time, and
set it down by the side of the pile of bags of gold.
Mr. Conroyal now placed the bags of gold, four at a time, on the scales,
and announced their weights; and Thure and Bud, pencils and paper in
their hands, set down the amounts. When the last bag had been weighed,
all waited anxiously while the two boys added up the various amounts.
Thure was the first to finish the addition.
"Five thousand one hundred and three and a half pounds!" he yelled.
"Exactly what I got," announced Bud a moment later.
"Give me the pencil and paper," and Mr. Conroyal caught the pencil and
paper from Thure's hands. "I'll see about what that amount of gold is
worth," and he began figuring on the paper, with hands that trembled
just a little with excitement. Presently he looked up, his face flushed
and his eyes shining.
"Of course I can't tell exactly how much the gold is worth," he said,
"not knowing exactly how much it will bring an ounce; but, I am sure we
can count on its bringing a Million Dollars, a Million Dollars, boys!
And that, since there were ten in the company, will give each one of us
at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars!"
"Great Moses! That means that we are all rich! Hurrah!" and Thure jumped
to his feet and yelled so loudly that Iola thrust her mantilla over his
mouth, fearing that the glad noise might bring the roof down on their
heads.
"And that we can now go to our dear home in New York," Mrs. Dickson said
softly, pressing the hand she held of her husband and looking happily
into his eyes.