HIDDEN TREASURE
"Take time to tidy up and put on clean blouses," called out Mrs. Rose as
the girls went to their rooms.
But they made quick work of it, and helped each other in the matter of
hair ribbons and soon three very trim and tidy young persons in clean
white linen presented themselves, hungry for their dinner.
Maria had a steaming chicken stew for them, with fluffy white dumplings
that showed no sign of being "spoilt"; in fact, she had not cooked them
until after the family's return.
"Was there ever anything so good!" exclaimed Dolly as she received a
second portion of the fricassee.
"Everything tastes good up here," said Dotty, "but Maria sure is a dandy
on stewed chicken. But go easy, Doll, for I happen to know there's an
Apple Betty to follow and just you wait till you see that!"
But Dolly's camp appetite was quite equal to the Apple Betty also,
which was, as Dolly had predicted, a triumph in the matter of desserts.
"I feel as if I had been to a party," Dolly said as they left the table.
"I believe I've eaten more to-day than I do in a week at home."
"It's the air," said Mr. Rose. "Crosstrees' air is the greatest
appetiser known to man. If I could bottle it and sell it, I'd make my
everlasting fortune. Now, may I ask what you young ladies have on hand
for this afternoon?"
"Nothing particular," said Dotty. "Why?"
"Because I asked a few young people from the neighbouring camps to come
over here for awhile."
"A party?" cried Genie. "Oh, Daddy, a party?"
"Not exactly a party; only half a dozen of the Norrises and Holmeses."
"Lovely!" cried Dotty. "I haven't seen the Norrises since last year, and
I don't know the Holmeses. Who are they?"
"Mr. Holmes is a friend of mine and his daughter Edith is about the age
of you girls, and they have two or three guests."
"And the Norrises, Maisie and Jack, are awfully nice," said Dotty.
"You'll like them, Doll; Maisie is something like you."
"She isn't a bit like Dolly," put in Genie, "'cept she's fat and yellow
headed and blue eyed. But she isn't half as pretty as Dolly, so don't
you mind, Dollyrinda."
"Oh, I don't mind," and Dolly laughed. "I don't think a blue-eyed
Towhead can be pretty anyway. I like dark eyes and dark curls best."
"Thank you, ma'am," and Dotty dropped a curtsey. "Shall we dress up,
Mother?"
"No; those clean blouses are all right. It's just a camp frolic, not a
formal party."
"It's a Kidd party," observed Mr. Rose, looking mysterious.
"A kid party?" echoed Dotty; "of course. I didn't s'pose it was a
grown-up party, Daddy, for us children."
Mr. Rose only laughed and turned away, and the girls wandered out toward
the open tent where Dolly had gone to bed the night before.
The hemlock-bough beds were covered now with big spreads of gay cretonne
and many cretonne pillows, and served as day couches.
The sight of the tent recalled to Dolly's mind the events of the night
before, and she suddenly experienced a wave of embarrassment and remorse
at the way she had acted. She felt, too, that an apology was due to her
hosts and somehow it didn't seem right to talk about it to the girls for
she felt that it was to Mr. and Mrs. Rose she owed an explanation.
"Wait here for me a minute," she said suddenly to Dolly and Genie, and
turning, she ran back to the bungalow.
She found Mr. and Mrs. Rose in the living room, and going straight to
them she said impulsively, "I was very naughty to run away last night
and I want to apologise. You see I got homesick--"
"Bless your heart; don't say a word about it," said Mr. Rose, in the
kindest tones; "that's part of the performance, child. Everybody gets
homesick the first night in camp. It's to be expected. Then, you see,
the next day they begin to like it and the third day you couldn't drive
them home."
"But I was very impolite to go away like that--"
"Never mind, Dollikins," and Mrs. Rose put her arm around her little
visitor; "it's all right, dearie; don't think of it again. I know
perfectly well how forlorn you felt and how you wanted your mother. And
I know, too, you were chilly and you felt strange and lonesome and
couldn't sleep. But that's all over now and we won't even think of it
again. If you don't sleep all right to-night and if you want to go home
to-morrow, I'll take you down myself, right straight to where your
mother is. Now put it all out of your mind and scamper back to Dotty.
The party will be coming pretty soon now."
"Run along," and Mr. Rose patted the golden head. "You wouldn't have
been the right kind of a guest at all if you hadn't been homesick the
first night. But I'll bet you a ripe red apple that you won't want to go
home to-morrow, but if you do want to you shall. Now skip along, for if
I'm not mistaken I hear a motor boat and like as not it's that bunch
from the Holmes'."
Dolly ran away, her heart greatly lightened by the kind attitude of her
hosts, and though she felt sorry she had run away the night before, she
did not feel so ashamed since they had so pleasantly made light of it.
Sure enough, the party of young people were just coming along the pier,
and Edith Holmes, a bright girl of about Dolly's age, was introducing
herself and her friends.
"I'm Edith Holmes," she said, laughing, "and these are my cousins, Guy
and Elmer. They're nice enough boys, but here's their sister Josie who
is nicer yet."
Josie was a shy little thing, who blushed and cast down her eyes at
Edith's praise.
"I thought the Norrises would be here," went on Edith, "and as they know
us and know you they could introduce us better. But we'll just scrape
acquaintance."
"Oh, that's all right," said Dotty. "I'm Dotty Rose and this is my chum,
Dolly Fayre, and my little sister, Genie. I have a brother but he isn't
here." She smiled at the boys as she said this and Elmer Holmes said,
"That doesn't matter; we just love to play with girls. And anyhow here
comes Jack Norris to keep us in countenance."
Jack and Maisie Norris came along, having walked over from the next
camp. They were acquainted with the Holmes' young people as both
families had been there all summer.
Introductions over, they all sat along the edge of the open tent. The
floor of this, being only about a foot above ground, made a convenient
seat and those who wished had cushions to sit on or lean against.
"Awful glad you people got up here at last," said Maisie Norris as she
twisted one of Dotty's curls round her finger. "Is your arm all well,
Dot?"
"Yes, though it isn't awfully strong yet. I have to be a little careful.
But it was my left one, you know, so I can play croquet and tennis and
do most everything."
"You had a gay old mixup, didn't you?" said Jack Norris, smiling at
Dolly. "You broke yourself, too, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes; you know Dotty and I are next-door neighbours this year, and
whatever one of us does the other has to. But we're both mended now and
ready for any sort of fun."
Then Mr. Rose came along, bringing about a dozen spades. They were small
ones, such as come with children's gardening tools, and he gave one to
each of the young people present.
"What for?" asked Elmer Holmes, as he looked at the shining new tool.
"I told my girls that this was to be a Kidd party," said Mr. Rose, "but
they didn't quite understand what I meant. Now I'll explain. Has each
one a spade?"
"Yes," and the nine boys and girls held them up.
"All right then. Now, what you want to do is to dig for Captain Kidd's
buried treasure. You have all heard that old Captain Kidd buried a lot
of treasure somewhere, but I doubt if you were aware that he buried it
in Crosstrees Camp. However, there is a tradition to that effect and so
I would like you to do your best to find it. Tradition says that the
treasure was buried somewhere near the spot where we are now. It is
hidden, I believe, not farther than fifty feet away in any direction
from this open tent, so everybody may dig wherever he chooses within
that radius, and see if he can unearth the treasure."
"But, Daddy," said Genie, "how do we know where to dig?"
"That you must decide for yourselves. Dig any place you like; turn up
the whole area if you choose; or, if you see a place that seems
especially hopeful, dig there. I feel sure the treasure is really buried
somewhere around and it's up to you young people to discover where it
may be."
"We'll find it!" and Jack Norris brandished his spade in the air. "Come
on, girls and boys; let's dig down to China if necessary, but let's get
Kidd's old treasure chest."
The young people scattered, looking about for probable places to dig.
Dolly, a little unused to digging, began rather aimlessly to toss up the
soil near by where she stood.
"Oh, I say," said Jack Norris, "don't start in that way. Come along with
me and let's find a place that looks promising."
They walked away, looking eagerly at the ground about them, when Dolly
spied something white under the leaves of a vine.
"Oh, look here!" she cried, and Jack stooped down to see what it was.
They saw a grinning skull and cross bones made of white plaster and
partly sunken in the earth.
"Geewhillikens! we've struck it!" cried Jack, "or rather you have! I
felt sure from that twinkle in Mr. Rose's eye that there was some way of
knowing where to dig. This is it, of course. The treasure is buried
here! Let's dig for it!"
Carefully setting aside the little skull, which was only a papier-mache
toy, they both began to dig desperately.
"The ground is soft! It has lately been dug, you see, to plant the box
here. How lucky you saw that white thing under the leaves."
"You would have seen it if I hadn't," said Dolly, not wanting to take
all the credit to herself. "It's buried pretty deep, isn't it?"
"Yes, sort of. Don't you dig any more, if you're tired; I'll dig the
rest of the way."
Dolly paused a few moments, and Jack went on digging. At last he said,
as he straightened himself up and wiped his brow with his handkerchief,
"Do you know, I believe we're hoaxed! I believe that skull was there to
fool us!"
"Oh, I'll bet it was!" and Dolly's eyes danced as she realised the
situation. "Maybe there are other skulls in other places!"
"I shouldn't wonder. Let's go and see."
"Let's fill up this hole first and put the skull back to fool somebody
else."
"All right," and Jack hastily tossed the dirt back into the hole, and
replaced the little white skull.
"Somebody is coming this way! Let's hide," and Dolly and Jack quickly
whisked themselves behind a clump of trees.
Guy Holmes and Maisie Norris came along and they spied the white skull
which Jack had left placed rather more conspicuously than he had found
it.
"Oh, look at that!" cried Guy, and Maisie exclaimed, "This is the right
place, of course! We've struck it at last! That pirate flag was just to
fool us. Hooray! let's dig!"
Dolly and Jack could scarcely keep from laughing aloud as they saw the
newcomers digging desperately in the very spot they had dug themselves.
At last Jack beckoned to Dolly and they softly glided away without
letting the others know of their presence.
"Now we want to find where it really is," whispered Jack as soon as they
were out of hearing of the others. "I say, this is a great game! and
we've learned something from those people. The spot marked with a pirate
flag is not the right one! When we find that, there is no use of
digging."
The pair went on, prospecting for a likely place to dig. There were so
many trees and shrubs, that often there would be no view of any of the
other seekers. And then again they would come across groups of two or
three, or perhaps one alone digging desperately or looking disappointed
at a failure.
Gay greetings were exchanged or words of sympathy and commiseration and
each went on his chosen way.
"Do you know," said Jack at last, "I shouldn't be surprised if the real
place isn't marked at all. Hullo, what's this?" Right at his feet lay a
toy bowie-knife. Though made of pasteboard, it was a ferocious-looking
affair and the spot where it was had not been disturbed.
"I don't believe that's the right place," said Jack, who had grown
suspicious of misleading clues. "Anyway, Dolly, let's leave that, and
come back to it if we don't find anything more hopeful."
So they wandered on and next they came to the pirate flag. This black
and white emblem was planted above a much dug up space and they laughed
as they concluded that several trials had been made there.
Soon they came upon Dotty and Josie Holmes who were hastily digging at a
spot which had been marked by two stakes. They had pulled up the stakes,
but as yet had not found any treasure.
"Bet it isn't there," said Jack, looking closely at the two stakes.
"Why?" demanded Dotty.
"Dunno. Somehow it doesn't seem 'sif it is. Come on, Dolly, let's try
again."
"Go on," said Dotty; "I think this is the place. Josie and I feel
certain of it. Go on, you two, and good luck to you."
Shouldering their spades, Jack and Dolly trudged on.
"Let's think it out," said Jack, seating himself on a flat rock, while
Dolly did likewise. "I believe we can think out where Mr. Rose would
have been likely to put the thing. Now I don't believe it would be very
close to where he started us. These nearby digging places are all
frauds. Let's go to the limit of the space he said, and try all 'round
the edge."
"How can you tell?" And Dolly looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Why, he said fifty feet, you know, and I can pace off what ought to be
about fifty feet and then we'll walk all the way round."
They did this, and as they walked round the circle which Jack declared
was about the boundary of the fifty-foot radius, they soon came upon a
good-sized iron key.
"This is it!" cried Jack; "we've struck it! This is the key to the
chest, and the chest is buried here!"
"Good work!" and Guy Holmes and Maisie Norris appeared just in time to
hear Jack's exclamation. "Come on, let's all dig!"
"No," said Dolly, sitting down on the ground; "I can't dig any more; I'm
too tired. Maisie and I will sit here while you boys do the digging."
"All right," the boys agreed, and they fell to work with a will.
They had thrown out but a few spadefulls of dirt, when they struck
something hard.
"Hooray! hurroo!" cried Guy; "we've got it! We've struck the treasure!"
"Sure we have!" and Jack flung out the dirt excitedly. "Easy there now,
old fellow! Look out! It's the chest, sure enough!"
The two girls jumped up and ran to look, as the boys uncovered one
corner of what seemed to be an old brass-bound chest.
"It is; it is!" cried Dolly. "We've found it. Hooray, everybody! We've
found the treasure!"
As her voice rang out the others left their digging and all congregated
about the lucky finders.
Other spades were set to work and in a short time willing hands lifted
the old chest from the hole and set it up on the solid earth.
"It's locked!" cried somebody, as several tried to open it at once.
"Of course it is," said Dolly; "don't you remember, Jack, it was the key
that first showed us where it was. What did you do with that key?"
"I don't know," and Jack Norris began looking around.
"I know," said Dolly, laughing; "you left it on the ground and you
spaded out the dirt all over it. Now you'll have to dig for the key!"
"That's just what I did do! If I'm not the chump!" and Jack began to dig
in the heap of dirt they had thrown up out of the hole.
"Toss it back in the hole," cried Guy, and in a jiffy the dirt was flung
back where it came from and the key was discovered.
"Don't let's open the box here," said Dolly; "I think we ought to take
it to Mr. Rose first."
"I think so, too," agreed Jack Norris, and the boys carried the big box,
while Dolly and the girls followed with the key.
"Here you are, Captain Kidd," cried Jack as they met Mr. Rose already
coming to meet them.
"Found it, did you?" said that gentleman, smiling at the band of
treasure seekers. "Bring it along and we'll open it."
They all followed him to the bungalow veranda, and there the treasure
chest was unlocked.
It contained a little souvenir for everybody present and there were
exclamations of delight over the pretty trinkets that were found tied up
in dainty tissue paper parcels that did not look at all as if they had
been prepared by Captain Kidd or his pirate crew!
Dolly's gift was a pretty writing tablet, well furnished, and upon
which, she declared, she should write a long letter home telling of the
treasure hunt and its success.
Later on a jolly picnic supper was served to the young people and before
this was finished the sun had set and the stars were beginning to show
above the tall trees.
"Now for a real camp-fire," said Mr. Rose, leading the way to the open
tent. "Come on, boys, and help me fetch wood."
The boys followed their host and under direction of Mrs. Rose and Dotty
the open tent was transformed into a cosy and inviting place. Hemlock
and spruce boughs were thrown about and partly covered with Indian
blankets and many cushions and pillows and mats of woven rattan.
Mrs. Rose and the girls arranged themselves comfortably in this spicy
nest and when the boys returned with arms full of fagots and brush, Mr.
Rose superintended the building of a glorious fire right in front of the
open tent.
Then the party all gathered together and sang songs and told stories and
cracked jokes in merry mood.
The blazing fire cast grotesque shadows all about and the merry
crackling blaze was a joy of itself.
Boxes of marshmallows made their appearance and faces took on a rosy
glow as the young people toasted the white lumps of delight on the ends
of long forks provided by Maria.
"I never had such a good time in my life," exclaimed Dolly, her eyes
dancing and her cheeks rosy as she scampered around the fire.
"Do you like camping?" asked Jack Norris, looking admiringly at the
pretty laughing face.
"I just love it!" Dolly cried, and everybody wondered why all the Rose
family chuckled with glee.
"Haven't you ever been up here before?" asked Jack.
"No; I never saw a camp-fire before. I had no idea these things were
such fun. This has been the most beautiful day in my life!" And Dolly
looked roguishly up into the face of Mr. Rose who chanced to be passing
by. "And I thank you for it," she added, slipping her hand into his.
Mr. Rose gave her little hand a warm welcoming grasp as he answered,
"I'm awfully glad you're enjoying it and you are very welcome to Camp
Crosstrees!"