bob’s shout drew the attention of all his comrades to what he indicated, and at the words “treasure chest” a curious look came over the face of tinny mallison.
“what’s that?” he exclaimed, as if he did not want to believe. “the treasure chest? impossible!”
“well, what is it then?” asked bob, and he could not keep a note of triumph out of his voice. “if that isn’t a strong box for gold i’ll eat my hat.”
tinny mallison was again going to say “impossible,” but as he brushed the dust and dirt from his eyes and saw more clearly he began to believe that, after all, there might be more than a dream to this strange story.
“bill, is that the kind of chest in which the gold went down the gulch with the stage coach and horses?” asked jerry, as they moved cautiously toward the object amid the blue rocks.
they walked with care as they did not want to[235] start another landslide. but the shifting of the mountain seemed to have ceased, at least for the time being.
“that’s the same kind of a chest they used to carry on the stage coaches years ago,” affirmed bill. “of course, i can’t say that this is the same one that went over into the gulch, but——”
“we’ll soon make sure!” cried ned.
“careful!” cautioned tinny, as he saw the boys making their way over the torn ground toward the object of such intense interest. “don’t take another coast down the mountain.”
they soon found, however, that the shift of earth, rocks, trees and bushes, brought about by the great amount of rain which had fallen, was, for a time at least, over. though there was no path to follow and though they had to scramble over tree trunks, uprooted bushes, great masses of earth and jagged rocks, they managed to reach the place where the wooden chest was partly imbedded in the débris.
for a few seconds they remained in a mute circle about the box, looking down at it. what a story the chest could tell! how many years had it lain undiscovered with its wealth of precious, yellow metal—provided, of course, that it was the treasure chest? what secrets did it hold? if it could but speak would it reveal the last hours of the unfortunate stage coach driver who went[236] to his death with his horses when the vehicle careened over the side of the gulch?
these, and many other thoughts, crowded into the minds of the motor boys as they surveyed the chest.
it may be questioned whether either tinny or the old miner had any such romantic ideas. as a matter of fact, cromley was occupied in searching the innermost recesses of his mind, trying to remember whether the chest of his story was the same as this one so unexpectedly discovered.
“well, let’s find out about it and end the agony!” proposed jerry at length, with a short laugh. “let’s break open this box.”
“it’s the only way to find out,” observed ned. “but it looks like a pretty strong box, and we haven’t even a tack hammer.”
“it’ll be pretty well rotted by this time,” said cromley. “it’s lain in the earth a long time; rain and snow have beat upon it. a heavy rock ought to break in the top, easy. let me have a go at it!”
with the help of the boys and tinny, cromley lifted the chest out from its bed in the earth and blue rocks. the color was peculiar, but the adventurers did not stop to comment upon this or seek its cause. all they cared about was to find out whether the strong box held any gold.
“this wasn’t the place where the coach went[237] over,” said the miner, as he looked up the side of the mountain. “it was miles from here.”
“then what brings the chest here?” asked ned.
“the landslide shifted a lot of other things besides this chest,” was tinny’s opinion. “it’s probably been buried deep for many years. that’s why it was never found. one landslide may have covered it from sight. this one brought it into view again. that’s the secret, i guess. but i’m not yet willing to admit that this is a treasure chest, boys. i think it came off some stage coach but——”
“open it, bill!” cried jerry. “we’ll show tinny what’s inside. open it!”
“’twon’t be much of a job,” the old miner cried, as he poised a sharp rock. “it’s pretty rotten, that wood. a wonder it held together as long as it did.”
with all his force cromley brought the stone down on top of the chest, which was of wood, strengthened with bands and strips of iron. the lid was secured by two heavy padlocks, and though they were much rusted they might have resisted the efforts of the treasure-hunters for some time, as they had no tools to work with. the miner’s plan was the only feasible one.
with a crash the stone struck the top of the wooden lid, and the old miner’s guess as to the[238] rottenness of the wood was well founded, for his stone went half way through.
a cloud of dust from the punky, rotten wood arose in the sunlight. cromley put his hands in the hole made by the stone and pulled up the jagged pieces of wood. they were so rotted away that there were no splinters. in another instant the interior of the chest was revealed.
the eyes of the motor boys, as well as those of tinny and the old man, rested on several canvas sacks arranged in layers and tiers inside the box.
“it looks like treasure, all right!” shouted bob.
“i’m beginning to believe so myself!” admitted tinny.
the old miner lifted out one of the sacks. it was in good condition, the canvas not having rotted away. around the neck of the bag, as around the neck of all the bags in the chest, was a thong secured by sealing wax. this cromley chipped away. then he cut the thong and unwound it. thrusting in his hand he withdrew it, and, resting on his palm, glowing in the sunlight, was a mass of gold dust!
“we’ve found it!” yelled bob, dancing about.
“it’s the treasure chest all right!” admitted tinny. “boys, i take it all back.”
“who says we can’t find gold?” shouted ned.
[239]
“maybe there’s only one bag of gold,” suggested the cautious jerry. “the other sacks may contain stones.”
“we’ll look!” decided tinny.
quickly the remaining bags were opened. each one held gold in the form of coarse dust or little pellets and nuggets. there was a fair-sized fortune in the old box.
“it’s the treasure chest of blue rock, all right!” declared cromley. “luck’s with us, boys!”
it was impossible to compute, except roughly, the value of the find, but a glance showed enough gold to make a big amount for each one. that they would share alike was a foregone conclusion.
“we’d better get this to a safe place,” said tinny, after the first wild enthusiasm had cooled. “and we’d better see if we can get back to where we left our horses. i hope they haven’t been swept away by the landslide.”
carrying as many of the sacks as they could, they scrambled up the débris-covered side of the mountain to the spot in front of the cave in which they had spent the night. to their delight, they found their horses safe. the slide had not reached them, nor had it disturbed the cavern.
“we’ll make this our headquarters, and bring the rest of the gold up here,” suggested tinny.
cromley, being lame, was tired out and could[240] not scramble down the mountain and up again, but the others went.
the last of the precious metal had been stowed in the cave and the adventurers were about to sit down outside to rest when a figure came staggering down the trail. it was the figure of a man, dirty and with torn clothes, his face and hands covered with mud and blood. his head was tied up in a bloody rag, and altogether he was the most forlorn specimen of humanity the party had seen since the war in france.
“water! water!” he hoarsely gasped, as he sank exhausted on a stone.
“why, it’s dolt haven!” cried ned.
“so it is,” gasped jerry. “what’s the matter? what happened?” he asked, as bob gave the suffering man a drink from a tin cup.
“it was the landslide,” muttered dolt. “it caught us all. noddy and jack are buried back there! i managed to get out, but i couldn’t free them. i said i’d go for help. i—i got this far, but——”
“where are they? tell us! we’ll save them!” cried jerry. “get ready, fellows,” he added. “we’ve got to go to the rescue!”
