A NIGHT EXPEDITION.
The wind and the cold had moderated, and a heavy grey mist hung over the
Tappan Zee on the following night. Hollow, echoing sounds came over and
through the mist clouds, and re-echoed up the mountain. The scene was
one common at that season of the year; still there was something strange
and mysterious in the very atmosphere that composed it. Gloom hung over
everything, and touched a melancholy chord in one's feelings. Curious
figures, dim and indistinct, seemed to move and dance up and down, and
thread their way through the curtain of mist, like phantoms in winding
sheets. They were but delusions, betraying the eye. But there is a
reality now; a steamer is seen cutting her way through the deep gloom,
and throwing a long trail of light high up over the grey mist and
reflecting curiously in the heavens.
Two stalworth men were seen walking down the road that night about eight
o'clock, dressed in a style common to boatmen. One carried a pair of
oars over his shoulder; the other had a well-filled haversack slung
across his, and a crowbar in his right hand. They halted on reaching
Bright's inn, and having stacked the oars and the bar against the little
porch, entered, and were greeted by a number of friends already
refreshing themselves at the counter. The appearance of these men--for
they were known to be the best boatmen on the Tappan Zee--greatly
surprised Bright and the gossips who were enjoying his ale around a
little table. One and then another invited them to drink, but they
refused, saying they had merely dropped in to light their pipes and look
for the men who were to join them. Various questions were now put to
them concerning their mission and its object. But the boatmen affected a
mysterious air; and all that could be got from them was that when they
returned it would be with money enough to buy all Nyack. They seemed
somewhat disappointed at not meeting some one, whose name they would not
disclose, at the inn.
Bright now mixed warm punches and set them before the boatmen, saying
that on such a night they were just what were needed to prop a man's
courage up. The men, however, steadily refused all invitations to drink,
and when they had lighted their pipes, and bid the host and his
customers good night, left the inn and proceeded to a landing at the
bank of the river, where a boat with two men in it was waiting them.
The manners of the boatmen had so excited the curiosity of the
inn-keeper and his guests, that no sooner had they left the inn than
Bright and several others put on their hats and followed, resolved to
see for themselves what was going on. Imagine, then, what must have been
their surprise to find the men in the boat Bigelow Chapman and Hanz
Toodleburg--both with heavy overcoats on. The boatmen were welcomed by
the men in the boat, whose voices were plainly heard, and after
exchanging a few words they threw in their oars carelessly and followed
themselves. In another minute the little craft was heading up the
stream, and disappeared in the thick mist.
"I have it all!" said Bright, turning to his companions with an assuring
nod of the head, and lowering his voice. "Toodleburg--Chapman--a
Dutchman and a Yankee--pick-axes, crowbars, and big ropes. Put them all
together; add going off at night to it--dark and misty night at
that--and there's something we'll all hear from in the wind. If Hanz and
that quarrelsome Yankee have got their heads together, then the devil
will get cheated out of Kidd's money. Sarves him right, too. Now them
two is after Kidd's money. Always knew old Hanz could tell where it
was."
The inn-keeper and his friends now returned to the inn and discussed the
matter over warm punch until nearly midnight, or until their wits became
so confused that the four men in the boat increased to forty. In short,
Nyack waked up on the following morning to find herself filled with the
wildest reports concerning this midnight expedition and its object.
The little boat moved on steadily up the stream, her sturdy oarsmen
pulling at a measured stroke through the bewildering fog. In this way
the boat was kept on up the river until past midnight, a glimpse of the
land being caught here and there, an assurance to Hanz that they were
not far out at sea. Indeed, Hanz began to get somewhat uneasy, and to
wish himself back with Angeline in the little house. As this expedition,
however, was to establish a solid basis for the great Kidd Discovery
Company, out of which a fortune for Tite was to come, he was willing to
run the risk of being lost in the fog for a night or two.
Towards morning the men became uneasy and hungry, and began cursing Kidd
and all connected with him, and enquired of Chapman if he knew where he
was going. Indeed, one of them declared it his belief that they had been
brought on a fool's errand. Chapman, however, assured them that he knew
exactly where Kidd had buried his treasure--that it was on a point not
many miles below the Highlands, and under a big rock called the d----l's
sounding stone. That if they kept on they would reach the place before
daybreak. Hanz assured the men that every word Chapman said concerning
Kidd was true, and this inspired their confidence, for they honestly
believed his father to be an intimate friend of the pirate, and of
course ought to know all about his money.
The boatmen now rested their oars and proceeded to refresh themselves.
And while they were doing this, and wondering what this night expedition
really meant, Hanz smoked his pipe and nursed his courage. In his heart,
however, he wished himself out of the affair and in a more honest
occupation. As for Chapman, he told a number of stories tended to excite
the cupidity of the boatmen. After resting an hour or two the party
proceeded about five miles further up the river, and landed just at
daybreak on a point jutting into the west side of the river, and just
above which there was a dilapidated little cabin, inhabited by a
laboring man and his wife.
It would not do to disturb these poor people at so early an hour,
Chapman said, nor to tell them what sort of a mission we were on.
Thereupon Hanz and he proceeded up the bank of the river, to make, as he
said, a discovery. So the boatmen were left to take care of themselves.
The boatmen waited for nearly two hours, still neither Chapman nor Hanz
returned. Where they had gone was fast becoming a mystery. The men at
length became alarmed and disappointed, and proceeded towards the little
house to enquire the name of the place, and see what they could do to
get breakfast. Before they reached the house, however, the door opened
and two half-naked, tow-headed urchins came toddling out, and as soon
as they saw the strangers scampered back in a state of great alarm. A
lusty dame, ragged and shoeless, and with her hair hanging loose about
her neck, now came to the door, with a broom in one hand and a
frying-pan in the other.
"Where on arth are you two come from?" enquired the woman, in a surly
tone, as she raised her broom. "Another lot o' fools com'd to look for
Mr. Kidd's money," she continued, without waiting for a reply. "Seems as
if all the folks atween this and Yonkers had got crazy about Mr. Kidd,
and was a comin' up here to dig for his money."
The men confessed that she was right in regard to their mission, and
begged that she would get them some breakfast, for which they would pay
her liberally.
"Yes!" rejoined the woman, angrily, "I know'd what you'd cum fur. Thar
ain't nothin' in this house to get breakfast on--nothin' fur my poor old
man and the two little children. Work's hard to get up here. And them
fools what comes up here to dig for Mr. Kidd's money eat up what little
we had, and did'nt pay fur it, nither. Go home, like honest men, and get
some honester work than comin' up here thinkin' you kin find Mr. Kidd's
money. Don't believe in Mr. Kidd--I don't!" The woman kept swinging her
broom as she spoke. Then the two children ventured back and peered from
behind her skirts at the strangers. "Don't believe he had any money,
anyhow. If he had he was a mighty fool to come up here and bury it.
People round here would 'a stole every dollar on it long ago. There's a
Yankee and a Dutchman diggin' a big hole a piece above here--expectin'
to find Mr. Kidd's money."
Such was the reception these boatmen met with at the hands of Mrs.
Brophy, whose husband, a short, thick-shouldered, bullet-headed son of
the Emerald Isle, with a short, black pipe in his wide mouth, and in his
shirt and trousers, came to the door and seated himself on the sill.
"Is it Misther Kidd's money ye's is afther?" he enquired, querulously,
putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. "Much
luck may ye's have finding it. Divel a cint meself iver saw uv Misther
Kidd's money, an' we've liv'd here this two years an' more. It's mighty
little uv any other man's money--not enough, troth, to get bread for the
childher--have we seen."
The boatmen enquired of Mr. Brophy if he could tell them where the
devil's sounding-stone was. There was indeed a superstition amongst
these poor people that Kidd had buried his money under a rock he gave
that name to; and that there was an agreement with his satanic majesty,
who was to stand guard over it, and allow only those who had the
talisman to lay hands on it. This talisman, it was also believed, would
open the devil's conscience, and cause him to lift the stone and unlock
the great iron chest containing the gold and silver. Loud noises, it was
said, were heard under the stone, which was the voice of the devil
rebuking the follies of the men who came in search of this treasure.
These poor people also believed that Kidd had murdered a woman in cold
blood, and buried her under the same stone; that she would come to life
when it was lifted; and that her ghost haunted the spot every night, and
not less than a score of Dutchmen had seen it. The more religious of
them declared that the ghost would hold communion only with a certain
priest, who came once a year, at midnight, to invoke in an unknown
tongue a blessing on her troubled spirit.
"The divel's soundin'-stone is it ye's wants?" ejaculated Mr. Brophy.
"Shure, it's beyant--a mile, about--perhaps two--perhaps not so
many--perhaps more. Much good may it do ye's when ye's finds it. An',
an', an', the ghost standin' there ivery night." Mr. Brophy resumed his
pipe, and after two or three whiffs resumed: "Ye's may dig holes till
yer childhers wears rags, as mine does, an' not a mouthfull uv bread in
the house, an' not a cint of Misther Kidd's money ye'd git. An' the
ghost standin' there, too!"
Being satisfied that these poor people had nothing to give them to eat,
the boatmen presented the woman with two dollars and what liquor there
was in their flask, telling her to spend the money in bread for the
children. This little act of kindness so softened the poor woman's
feelings that she invoked numerous blessings on their heads; adding at
the same time that it was more money than she had seen for a month,
though persons in search of Kidd's gold and silver had beset her house.
The men now returned to their boat, and breakfasted on what they had in
their haversack. And when it was nearly noon, and they were beginning to
get alarmed, Chapman returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and
accompanied them to a comfortable farm-house, about a mile up the bank.
Here they found Hanz, very contentedly smoking his pipe, in the company
of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became
apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by
appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same
business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an ill-favored,
talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing,
and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he
was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in
one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well
inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his
departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this
neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and
in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it
would not put clothes on his back.
Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he
never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing,
however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business
that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was,
then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery
Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune.
The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or
six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that
curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and
were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a
moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined;
and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed
a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity.
His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little
fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold
neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style
and in great good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might
have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover.
The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo
Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher,
extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons
kind enough to honor them with their investments.
The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a
table on which stood a bucket half filled with what appeared to be ugly
black sand. Just as they entered Mr. Gusher rose from his seat and
exclaimed:
"Greatest discovery what was ever made. There is nothing like it in
history. I tell you it is a great thing, gen-tle-men!" Here he raised
his right hand, and then lowering it ran his fingers into the dark sand,
and drew out a number of discolored Mexican and Spanish dollars. "Wis
zat--what is in zat bucket, gen-tle-mens--and ze ouse of Topman and
Gusher (me) is on a solid basis, as you shall see." Here he rang a dozen
or two of the discolored dollars on the table, adding, "Zis Kidd
Discovery Company is one zing so great as you ever did see,
gen-tle-men."
"And we are indebted to this good, honest old man for all of it--I
should say," rejoined Chapman, checking himself, "for selling us the
secret." Hanz had been smoking his pipe quietly, and seeming to take but
little interest in what was going on. Chapman now slapped him on the
shoulder violently, and shook his hand. "We are indebted to you for this
great and successful enterprise, eh? See the fortune now, don't you?"
"Perhaps I toes, und maybe I ton't," replied Hanz, relieving his mouth
of the pipe. "I shees t' shand, und I shees t' tirty tollars--how I know
where he comes from, eh?" Hanz began to have his suspicion aroused, and
to feel that he had got into queer company. "T' tollar might get back to
t' tivel when you gets him, if I vas only back mit mine Angeline!" said
he, shaking his head doubtingly.
"It is very generous of our friend here," interposed Holbrook, running
his fingers through his tufty red hair, and looking askance through his
spectacles at Hanz, "to affect that he cares nothing about our
discovery. Very kind of him. But we found the treasure exactly where he
said it was buried."
Hanz shook his head, and looked with an air of surprise at the speaker.
"If I tells you where dat gold und dat tirty shilver be's buried, und
you goes dar und finds him, ten I be's asleep, und ton't know what I
tells you."
"Te gen-tle-man," interposed Gusher, going off into a rhapsody of
delight, "is very modest. It is very good of him to be so modest. But
he, I am sure, will accept ze thanks of Topman and Gusher. Tis Kidd,
gen-tle-men--he must be one jolly, generous fellow. I loves tis
gen-tle-man Kidd. He bury his dollars here in bushel baskets full. We
find him, eh?" Here he again ran his hand into the sand, and drawing out
several more discolored dollars threw them on the table. "Te great big
Kidd Discovery Company is one great fixed fact--one grand success,
gen-tle-men. When ze customer come wiz his money, we shall say here is
ze zing what makes you one grand fortune; invest your money and put your
trust in Topman and Gusher."
Here, indeed, was the capital stock on which the enterprising firm of
Topman and Gusher had started a great and flourishing joint-stock
company. The boatmen listened to what they had heard with surprise and
astonishment. They, in short, firmly believed that what they had seen in
the bucket was treasure taken from the place in which it had been buried
by Kidd.