"Nothin' at all," said Tom sulkily.
"I insist upon knowing what it is," I cried angrily, as I caught him by
the arm.
For--it must have been the influence of the gold--I again felt
suspicious.
"There it is, then," said Tom gruffly, "ketch hold."
I eagerly took that which he had handed to me, and then with a shudder
of disgust hurled it away, as the gravedigger scene in "Hamlet" flashed
across my mind; and then we worked on in silence.
"Bones," said Tom, "flint-knife things, and, hallo! what's that you've
got, Mas'r Harry?" he exclaimed in a sharp whisper.
In my turn I had uttered an exclamation as my hands came in contact with
a flat heavy piece of metal, which, upon being balanced upon a finger
and tapped, gave forth a sonorous ring.
"I don't know, Tom," I whispered huskily, "but--but it feels like what
we are in search of."
"Do you think it is gold, Mas'r Harry?" he hissed in a voice that told
of his own excitement.
"Gold or silver, Tom," I said in a choking voice.
Then I felt faint. Suspicions of a horrible nature seemed to float
across my brain. "Suppose," I thought, "Tom should murder me now to
possess himself of the treasure, load the mules, and then bury me in the
grave we had dug. The water would flow over it again in a few hours,
and who would ever suspect the man who went away laden with wealth?"
The next moment, though, I had driven away the base thoughts, and was
leaning against the rock above me.
"Tom," I said, "I'm faint; go and fetch the spirits."
"I will that, Mas'r Harry," he whispered, "for I don't know how it is,
I'm feeling rather queer myself. It's this stuff, I think. I've got
hold of one of these little tiles, and one can't see it, but it feels
yaller."
Tom passed another plate into my hands, when running my fingers over it
my heart beat more rapidly, for I could feel an embossed surface that
told of cunning work, and I longed intensely to get a light and examine
what we had found though I knew such a proceeding would be folly.
In a few minutes Tom was back, and a draught from the bottle we had
brought revived us, so that we quickly cleared out the wet sand and
water that kept filtering in, and then as fast as we could grope drew
out plate after plate and placed them in one of the coffee-bags Tom had
brought.
We did not need telling that it was gold. The sonorous ring told that
as plate touched plate. The darkness, as I said, was intense. But I
could almost fancy that a bright yellow phosphorescent halo was spread
around each plate as we drew it from its sandy bed.
"But suppose, Mas'r Harry, as it's only brass?" whispered Tom suddenly.
"Brass, Tom? No, it's gold--rich, yellow gold; and now who dares say
I'm a beggar?"
"Not me, Mas'r Harry. But I won't believe it's gold till I've seen it
by daylight. 'Tain't lead, or it wouldn't ring. 'Tain't iron, for it
will cut. I've been trying it."
"Hush, Tom!" I said hoarsely. "Work--work! or it will be day, and we
shall be discovered."
As I spoke I bent down into the hole to drag out what felt like a vase,
but all beaten in and flattened. Then another, and four or five
curiously shaped vessels.
"Fetch another bag, Tom," I whispered; for the one we now had felt
heavy, and I wanted them to be portable.
"Wait a bit, Mas'r Harry," whispered Tom. "Here's a rum un here--big as
a table top. Lend a hand, will you."
Both trembling with excitement we toiled and strained, and at last
extricated a great flat circular plate that seemed to weigh forty or
fifty pounds, and stood it against the rock.
And now in the wild thirst I forgot all about bags or concealment as we
kept scraping out the sand and water, and then brought out more plates,
more cups, thin flat sheets, bars of the thickness of a finger and six
inches long. Then another great round disc similar to the one I had
dragged out with Tom; and then--then--sand--water--sand--water--sand--
one solitary plate.
"There must be more, Tom!" I whispered excitedly. "Where is the rod?"
He felt about for a few minutes, and I heard the metal clinking upon
metal as he drew the iron rod towards him. Then, feeling for the
pointed end, he thrust it down here and there again and again.
"Try you, Mas'r Harry," he said huskily.
I took the rod, and felt with it all over the pit; but everywhere it ran
down easily into the sand, and I felt that we must have got all there
was hidden there. And now, for the first time, I began to think of the
value. Why, if this were all pure gold that lay piled-up by our side,
there must be thousands upon thousands of pounds' worth--twenty
thousands at the least. But a pang shot through my brain the next
instant, for the thought had struck me, suppose it should prove but
copper after all.
The day would show it, and the day I hoped would soon be there. But now
a new trouble assailed me. What about Tom--what share would he expect?
"Mas'r Harry," said Tom just then, "if this here all turns out to be
gold you'll be a rich man, won't you?"
"Yes, Tom," I said, "very wealthy."
My words would hardly leave my lips. "Then you'll do the handsome thing
by me when I get married, won't you, Mas'r Harry?"
"What shall I do, Tom?" I said, wondering the while what he would say.
"'Low me a pound a week and my 'bacco as long as I live."
"Yes, Tom, two if you like," I exclaimed aloud. "But now lend a hand
here and let's get these behind the rock farther in."
Fatigue! We never gave that a thought, as, each seizing one of the
round shields, we carried them cautiously in and felt our way to where
was the food, taking back with us more of the coffee-bags, in which we
carefully packed the flattened cups, and each bore back a heavy bag, but
only hastily to return again and again to collect the plates, and
sheets, and bars we had rapidly thrown out; when we returned once more
to throw ourselves upon the sand and feel over it with our hands again
and again, creeping in every direction, forcing in our fingers and
running the sand through them till we felt certain that nothing was left
behind.
"Now, then, Tom," I said. "Quick!--the spades. There must not be a
trace of this night's work left at daybreak."
Tom's hard breathing was the only response, as, seizing his spade and
giving me mine, he forced back the sand, helping me to shovel it in
until the floor was once more pretty level, and we knew the water would
do the rest, even to removing the traces of our running to and fro,
unless the sharp Indian eye should be applied closely to the floor of
the cavern.
We toiled on, working furiously in our excitement, feeling about so as
to compensate as well as we could for the want of sight, till I knew
that no more could be done, when, retreating inward to where we had
dammed the stream, we let the water flow swiftly back into its old
channel, leaving the bits of rock where they were, save one or two whose
loosening soon set the water free, so that it swept with a rush over the
place where we had so lately toiled; and then, dripping with
perspiration and water, we went and sat down to eat and rest just as the
first faint streaks of dawn began to show in the valley, and we could
see that there was a barrier across the mouth of the cave.