“the brother was strangely moved,” concluded mr. horton, “and the sister was greatly softened.”
mrs. horton and her friends did not delay calling upon miss boulby. that lady has been walking on air since the above-related conversation with mr. murphy and was in a very sweet and forgiving mood. she allowed her callers to talk just as much as they pleased and on the subject dearest to them. they discussed and re-discussed every phase of church work. miss katherine professed herself willing to make endless quilts for the missionary box, pin-cushions for the bazaar, socks for the old men’s home and cakes for the sewing circle. the minister’s wife was dazed by such liberality and when miss katherine spoke of the number of years her brother had been deacon in their home church, and of her own activities in every conceivable church society, the ladies felt that a terrible injustice had been done this exemplary brother and sister.
when miss katherine had seen that her words fell on receptive ground she still mellowed that soil by tempting refreshments after which she proposed a walk in the garden. as joseph was from home she offered slips, roots and seeds without number. at last she came to a rose tree which, she judged, would do as well as any other and she launched into the story of captain shannon’s experiments to produce a new species and final triumph.
“we knew,” said the unblushing miss katherine, [59] “that he had been awarded a medal by the american horticultural society. mr. murphy, who is an old friend of the captain’s, told us he had lost the medal in the garden, so we began looking for it. come with me and i’ll show you where we found it.”
miss katherine did so, elaborating on the trouble they had taken to discover it.
“it is solid gold,” said she, “and we were afraid that the boys might suspect what we were looking for and come at night and hunt for it, so we set bruno to watch at night, but fortunately we found it. come in the house and i’ll show it to you.”
as miss katherine watched her visitors go away she said to herself:
“i confess that all i said this afternoon was not strictly true, but there are times when a prudent woman will deviate somewhat from the exact truth.”
when miss katherine had bade mr. murphy good afternoon, on the day of his startling disclosure concerning captain kidd’s treasure, the aforementioned gentleman fell to chuckling.
“i’m in a devil of a fix, but i’ve saved the house from destruction, that’s sure. i’ll trust her to make peace with the neighbors and then i’ll gradually ease her off the captain kidd proposition and [60] then there should be plain sailing. but jehosaphat! what about that chart? well, i’ll just have to get some paper and a pencil and go back to the shore and draw it, that’s all. i can’t lie worth a darn. i’ve got to get myself in a worse mess every time instead of lying out.”
so saying, mr. murphy procured the paper and pencil and retraced his steps to the shore where he labored long and arduously, for he was neither an artist nor a cartographer.
in a couple of days mr. murphy informed miss katherine that he thought he had located the right spot and that afternoon, they would begin their search. miss katherine was to join him at the spot where she had found him the day they became partners in this affair. he would be laden with the necessary tools. miss katherine asked if she should bring a bag in case of success, but mr. murphy said no, they were more apt to find it if they acted as if they thought they wouldn’t.
at the appointed time and place the junction of the forces was successfully accomplished.
miss katherine and mr. murphy sat down side by side to study the chart. the latter explained that he had worn out the original and this was a copy he had made. the chart fully came up to miss katherine’s idea of a chart.
“now you can see if you study it,” exclaimed mr. murphy, “that it’s this bit of shore that’s [61] meant. see where it juts out here by the pine tree! well, just look down the shore there and you’ll see the very spot. from there just follow along and compare the chart with the shore. line for line, ain’t they?”
“isn’t that remarkable!” exclaimed miss katherine. “what a wonderful observer you must be to have noticed the similarity! but wouldn’t you think there would be changes in the shore line since the time this chart was made?”
“well, you see it’s sheltered here,” returned mr. murphy. “that makes a big difference.”
“oh does it?” cried miss katherine.
“oh, yes!” replied mr. murphy.
“and now where is the treasure?” asked miss katherine.
“well, the first place i’d try is right in this little hollow. we’ll go right along to it.”
mr. murphy shouldered his spade, pick and axe and directed miss katherine to the spot, a little sandy hollow between two little sandy mounds.
“now you must keep guard while i dig,” said mr. murphy. “it wouldn’t do to let others into the secret you know.”
miss katherine was quite disappointed, for she had anticipated watching the excavation sink deeper and deeper until the spade suddenly struck the iron lid of a box, and a king’s ransom glowed [62] at their feet. but she realized the wisdom of this request and uncomplainingly complied with it.
in silence and with inward protest mr. murphy plied his spade until he was obliged to straighten his aching back. he looked at his task mistress entreatingly, but she was on guard and had no eyes for the toiler. the poor man gazed about him in distress. would he fall from grace if he took a little rest?
fortunately for mr. murphy, at this moment, miss katherine’s eye fell upon the little lunch basket she carried. a pang of remorse shot through her heart as she turned and beheld her hero leaning wearily upon his spade.
at the suggestion of lunch mr. murphy climbed out of prison with such alacrity that miss katherine’s soft heart suffered another pang. but as pity is akin to another, warmer and tendered passion let us hope all was working for the highest good of miss katherine and mr. murphy.
whatever hopes of a prolonged rest that gentleman had at first entertained were soon destroyed by a word or two from his inexorable partner, and again the gentle chuck, chuck as the spade struck against the soft sand, was the only sound that broke the silence.
miss katherine, though not watching the digger, kept time with his steady spade and strained her ear to catch a clink instead of a click. that [63] would announce the bursting of an old leather bag or the striking upon an iron box. there it would be! gold! gold glittering in the light after years of darkness!
“damn it!” broke in upon miss katherine’s golden dream.
in mild surprise she turned about and beheld her erstwhile obedient partner hurl his spade from him and scramble out of the deep hole he had dug. rebellion was written on his face, but as he approached miss katherine there was something much softer and infinitely agreeable to the female eye in his expression.
“confound it all!” said captain peter shannon, “let’s stop this foolishness and get married.”
