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. 
