THE TREASURE-HUNT 133 



hot, he dashed out of the doorway and sprinted down 

 the slope, scattering dandelion greens at every jump, 

 and disappeared in the thicket beyond. Although 

 the Captain laughed and laughed until he nearly fell 

 off his beam, the rest of the Band feared the worst. 



"He looked exactly like Black Dog," murmured 

 Honey in a low voice. 



"Yes," chimed in Trottie, "kind of slinky and 

 tallowy." 



Whereupon, in spite of the Captain's reassuring 

 words, they made haste to find the Treasure, fearing 

 lest at any moment they might hear the shrill and 

 dreadful whistle which sounded on the night when 

 Billy Bones died. Sidling along the beams in the wake 

 of the Captain, they came to what remained of a 

 crumbling staircase. One by one they passed up this 

 until they reached the bit of attic flooring which 

 they had seen from below. Sure enough, in one of 

 the soft mica-schist rocks of the chimney, someone 

 had chiseled a deep and delightful hidey-hole. 



It was Lieutenant Trottie who, by virtue of his 

 rank, first explored the unknown depths and drew 

 therefrom a heavy, grimy canvas bag. When he 

 undid the draw-string, a rolling mass of gold and sil- 

 ver nuggets rattled down on the dry boards, while 

 the Band gasped at the sight of so much sudden 

 wealth. A moment later a series of crunching noises 

 showed that the treasure-hunters had discovered 

 that said gold and silver were only thin surface foils, 

 each concealing a luscious heart of sweet chocolate. 

 The Captain met their inquiring glances unmoved. 



