My Buried Treasure | Page 4

he began
abruptly.
"Our mills," he said, "are in New Bedford; and I own several small
cottages there and in Fairhaven. I rent them out at a moderate rate. The
other day one of my tenants, a Portuguese sailor, was taken suddenly ill
and sent for me. He had made many voyages in and out of Bedford to
the South Seas, whaling, and he told me on his last voyage he had
touched at his former home at Teneriffe. There his grandfather had
given him a document that had been left him by his father. His
grandfather said it contained an important secret, but one that was of
value only in America, and that when he returned to that continent he
must be very careful to whom he showed it. He told me it was written
in a kind of English he could not understand, and that he had been
afraid to let any one see it. He wanted me to accept the document in
payment of the rent he owed me, with the understanding that I was not
to look at it, and that if he got well I was to give it back. If he pulled
through, he was to pay me in some other way; but if he died I was to
keep the document. About a month ago he died, and I examined the
paper. It purports to tell where there is buried a pirate's treasure. And,"
added Edgar, gazing at me severely and as though he challenged me to

contradict him, I intend to dig for it!"
Had he told me he contemplated crossing the Rocky Mountains in a
Baby Wright, or leading a cotillon, I could not have been more
astonished. I am afraid I laughed aloud.
"You!" I exclaimed. "Search for buried treasure?"
My tone visibly annoyed him. Even the eye-glasses radiated
disapproval.
"I see nothing amusing in the idea," Edgar protested coldly. "It is a
plain business proposition. I find the outlay will be small, and if I am
successful the returns should be large; at a rough estimate about one
million dollars."
Even to-day, no true American, at the thought of one million dollars,
can remain covered. His letter to me had said, "for our mutual benefit."
I became respectful and polite, I might even say abject. After all, the
ties that bind us in those dear old college days are not lightly to be
disregarded.
"If I can be of any service to you, Edgar, old man," I assured him
heartily, "if I can help you find it, you know I shall be only too happy."
With regret I observed that my generous offer did not seem to deeply
move him.
"I came to you in this matter," he continued stiffly, "because you
seemed to be the sort of person who would be interested in a search for
buried treasure."
"I am," I exclaimed. "Always have been."
"Have you," he demanded searchingly, "any practical experience?"
I tried to appear at ease; but I knew then just how the man who applies
to look after your furnace feels, when you ask him if he can also run a
sixty horse-power dynamo.

"I have never actually FOUND any buried treasure," I admitted; "but I
know where lots of it is, and I know just how to go after it." I
endeavored to dazzle him with expert knowledge.
"Of course," I went on airily, "I am familiar with all the expeditions
that have tried for the one on Cocos Island, and I know all about the
Peruvian treasure on Trinidad, and the lost treasures of Jalisco near
Guadalajara, and the sunken galleon on the Grand Cayman, and when I
was on the Isle of Pines I had several very tempting offers to search
there. And the late Captain Boynton invited me----"
"But," interrupted Edgar in a tone that would tolerate no trifling, "you
yourself have never financed or organized an expedition with the object
in view of----"
"Oh, that part's easy!" I assured him. "The fitting-out part you can
safely leave to me." I assumed a confidence that I hoped he might
believe was real. "There's always a tramp steamer in the Erie Basin," I
said, "that one can charter for any kind of adventure, and I have the
addresses of enough soldiers of fortune, filibusters, and professional
revolutionists to man a battle-ship, all fine fellows in a tight corner.
And I'll promise you they'll follow us to hell, and back----"
"That!" exclaimed Edgar, "is exactly what I feared! "
"I beg your pardon!" I exclaimed.
"That's exactly what I DON'T want," said Edgar sternly. "I don't
INTEND to get into any tight corners. I don't WANT to go to hell!"
I saw that in my enthusiasm I had perhaps alarmed him. I continued
more