AT THE HUNTER’S CABIN
“Hurry! Don’t let the youngsters see you Campbell. They went out the
lane a while ago with ‘Mother Nature’ and may be back at any time. I
think they went after flowers and will not go through the woods to
the shore, I’m pretty sure.”
“We’ll just go right down to the pine grove, and if they see us we
can’t do it, that’s all.”
Campbell had come up before supper with several parents and some
boys from Boothbay, and had just come in from canoeing with Hilary.
They were laughing, as they walked up from the shore and beckoned to
Cathalina, Betty and Eloise, who happened to appear. While Campbell
unfolded a little plan, they stood in a smiling group, approving the
scheme, which developed further under the ideas of more
conspirators. Campbell fished in his pocket for something which they
all examined with interest. Cathalina thought a moment, and with one
word, “wait”, sped away toward her cabin. There she searched her
trunk for a few minutes and flew back to her companions.
“Just the thing! Don’t you want them, Cathalina?”
“No, I happened to bring them because they were in with the rest.”
As if strolling, the party moved toward the pine grove, but when
they had reached its shelter their demeanor changed and they
scurried along the trail, through the trees and over the rocks that
lined the shore of Merrymeeting Bay.
“We’ll have to be quick,” said Campbell, “before my party has to
leave.”
“Where shall we put it?”
“Look; just the place!”
“I’m afraid they’ll think it’s fishy.”
“Let ’em; they’ll soon find out, anyhow.”
“O, Campbell, have more imagination.”
“They will like it in the end. Let me know how it comes out, girls.”
“Indeed we will.”
“Be sure to have them start out early tomorrow morning before
anybody else does.”
As they came back toward the club house, they saw June, Dot and Jo
sitting on the steps, talking earnestly and mysteriously, as
gestures and looks indicated.
“Hello, June,” called Campbell, holding out a hand. “And how are Dot
and Jo by this time?” June sprang to meet him, Dot took his other
hand and Jo stood smiling by.
“Where’ve you been, Mr. Stuart?” asked Dot. “We looked for you after
supper.”
“Just now we’ve come from the pine grove and around the rocks,”
replied Campbell, promptly and truthfully. “Big storm last night,
girls, must have beat upon the rocks something fierce! I wonder if
it opened up any of the caves where Captain Kidd’s treasure is!”
“Campbell!” exclaimed Hilary, laughing.
“We’ll go up tomorrow and see,” said Jo, entering into the spirit of
Campbell’s joking. “But we children are not allowed to play around
there alone. I don’t see why, because there’s nobody ever there but
camp folks.”
“Could the big girls take you? They could get up early for once,
couldn’t they?”
“Why, Mr. Stuart! You know we get up as early as the boys do, and
have a dip and everything, early bird hikes,—”
“Of course you do, Jo, excuse me!”
“We’ll prove it,” said Cathalina. “We will take you tomorrow
morning. Be ready and we’ll stop for you,—we’ll whistle Campbell’s
fraternity whistle.”
“All right! Goody!” The little girls jumped up and down as small
girls sometimes do.
“Hunting treasure!” exclaimed Campbell. “What could be more
thrilling?”
“Wear your sweaters, kiddies,” Hilary admonished, “it will be cool.”
“What time shall we get up?”
“About six o’clock?”
“O, that isn’t early enough. That would only give us an hour or so
before dip.”
“Mercy,” said Eloise, “how long do you want?”
“Could you come for us at five or five-thirty, before _anybody_ is
up, you know?”
“I guess so,” said Hilary.
Bright and early the next morning, Cathalina and Hilary whistled
softly outside of Laugh-a-lot and were joined by three stealthily
moving figures which slipped out of the klondike, permission having
been asked the night before.
“Isn’t this fun?” said Betty. “What if we really should find
something?”
Little birds disturbed in their slumbers twittered a little from the
trees as the girls passed. Jo had a spade, which she had secured
soon after the conversation with Campbell. June had a trowel, and
Dot carried a stout stick, which she had sharpened.
“We had the awfullest time doing anything to get ready last night,
because the girls asked what we were doing.”
Arrived at the cabin, the little girls peered eagerly around and the
big girls pretended to do so. The hunter’s cabin itself was of no
particular interest, because of having been explored before. They
did not consider taking up the floor to dig or doing anything to
injure property that belonged to other people. “O, don’t I wish I
owned this place,” sighed Dot. “I’d dig and dig whenever I needed
exercise!”
“There’s an awfully old looking pine tree, Dot,” said Jo, “and not
far from that ledge either.” To the older girls’ great amusement,
Dot brought forth a ruler, which they had not noticed before.
“They are actually going to measure according to that silly verse,”
whispered Cathalina.
As if to explain the performance to more critical judgment, June
said, “Now I don’t suppose that there is anything in that verse, but
if we are going to dig at all we may as well have some plan.”
“O, what’s this?” cried Jo, turning up something near the pine tree
from which they were about to measure. The three little girls
dropped on their knees as Jo pried up from the ground an
old-fashioned brooch set with a small garnet. It was well packed
with dirt and took some cleaning and blowing on Jo’s part to make it
apparent what jewel it contained. It was, however, remarkable,
considering how long the pin must have been there if dropped by
Captain Kidd, how little spoiled it was by wind and weather. The
little girls looked soberly at each other and began to examine the
place.
The next find was made by Dot and was a little silver coin, too worn
for any marks of identification to be distinguished. This time the
older girls sat down on the ground to examine it. “See how crusty it
is with dirt!” exclaimed June excitedly. She was sitting at the foot
of one of the larger trees and lifted a little mat of pine needles
where the curving root showed a little hollow.
“O, look here, I feel something hard!” Slipping her hand down
further, she fished out a queer-looking metal case of some sort, all
battered and dingy, encrusted with dirt and rattling with its
contents as June held it up. “H’m,” said she, “I guess it looks old
enough for Captain Kidd’s time, or maybe the Indians put it there,
or some hunter. Beads or pearls, which?”
The girls had quite a time in getting off the cover, which was at
one end, but finally it flew off.
“Just beads.”
“Probably for Indians.”
“Take ’em out and see what’s underneath.”
“Empty the whole thing out into your lap!”
The last bit of advice was followed, and there came tumbling out of
the funny old long case a stringy little mass of beads and jewelry.
This they began to disentangle at once.
“Here’s a coral necklace.”
“Look at this little gold cross with a weeny ruby, but one arm is
broken off! Too bad.”
A silver buckle of old style, a plain gold pin, a pair of long jet
earrings, a delicate gold chain with a tiny heart on it, a small
ring set with a real turquoise and another set with a garnet and
pearls completed the list. June looked quizzically at Cathalina.
“Seems to me I’ve seen that gold chain and heart before. I bet you
and Campbell put this box here last night!”
“What makes you think so?” parried Cathalina.
“I just do. Didn’t you wear that chain at our first party?”
“How could I if it were here?”
“O, but it wasn’t here. You dear old Cathalina, you didn’t want us
to be disappointed, did you?” It was like June to take it so,
instead of feeling that the girls and Campbell wanted to make fun of
the little girls.
Dot and Jo were looking a bit rueful and Dot remarked dolefully, “Of
course we can’t keep ’em, then,” and turned the turquoise ring about
on her finger.
“Of course you can keep them if you like them. We thought that you’d
like to find something, and of course you can’t dig around much to
spoil the looks of things here.”
“Well,” said philosophical June, “of course we’d like to find some
real Captain Kidd stuff, but after all, Dot, it’s better to have
these pretty things than to dig around and not find a thing.”
“That’s so,” replied Dot, looking more cheerful. “Let’s divide them,
if Cathalina really meant them for us. Why don’t you want them,
Cathalina?”
“I never wear them. O, I did put on that necklace once lately. I had
forgotten it. Mother gave me quite a lot of old jewelry one day,
saying that no one ever wore the pieces and that I might keep them
or give them away, as I liked. I happened to have it with me and
thought of it when Campbell said ‘let’s fix up something for the
girls to find.’ The turquoise ring I had when I was about Dot’s age,
and I thought of that for her, of the garnet one for Jo, and of the
little chain for June. But divide them any way you like.”
“My, you’re good to us, Cathalina,” said Dot.
The children had quite a lively time while dividing the “treasure”.
They decided to keep it a secret about the digging, and asked the
older girls not to tell. “We didn’t put that coin there, though,”
said Hilary.
“That’s so!” exclaimed Dot. “We did find something, then!”