The Boy Trapper | Page 5

leaned half way
over the fence, puffing vigorously at his cigar all the while. The little
round ball of fire glowing through the darkness caught the eye of the
boy, who showed it to his companion, and the two, frightened almost
out of their senses, took to their heels, leaving the eavesdropper lost in
wonder.
Clarence was almost overwhelmed by the discovery he had just made.
It was an opportunity too good to be lost, and he at once resolved that if
there were eighty thousand dollars buried in that field, he must have a
share of the money when it was brought to light. In order to bring this
about, he must find out who this man and boy were. He had a very
slight cue to guide him, but he followed it up so skillfully that by noon
of the next day he knew as much about the eighty thousand dollars as
Godfrey did, and had formed a partnership with that worthy, Dan being
dropped as a useless encumbrance. They met, according to agreement,
as soon as it grew dark. It happened that there was one who witnessed
their interview, and heard all that passed between them, and that was
Don Gordon, who had just returned from the landing, whither he had
been to mail a letter to his cousin. Not finding the hostler about when
he came back, Don attended to his pony himself, and was about to shut
up the barn for the night, when he discovered what he supposed to be a
thief prowling about. The lighted end of a cigar glowed through the
darkness a moment later, and then Don saw that the prowler was his
cousin Clarence. Greatly amused at his mistake, he was about to make
his presence known, when it occurred to him that since Clarence had
taken so much pains to get out of sight of the family, in order that he
might enjoy his cigar, perhaps he would not like it if Don caught him in
the act; so Don remained in his place of concealment, heard every word
that was said when Godfrey came up, saw both of them get over the
fence in the potato-patch, and followed and watched them while they
were digging for the barrel.

Now, Don was one of the most inveterate practical jokers in the world,
and the most accomplished one we ever saw. Godfrey had received
more than one proof of his skill. He had been tripped up when there
was no one near him; his hat had been knocked off his head by
invisible hands, and he had seen horrid great things with eyes of fire
staring at him from fence-corners, until he had become fully satisfied
that the General's lane was haunted, and he would go a mile around
through the fields before he would pass through it after nightfall. Here
was another opportunity to frighten him, and Don knew just how to do
it. Before he went to sleep that night, he had thought of something that
beat all the other tricks he had heard of far out of sight.
CHAPTER II.
DAVID'S VISITORS.
The trouble began the very next morning. While Godfrey was sitting on
the bench in front of his cabin, deeply engrossed with his own thoughts,
Dan came rushing up with a face full of terror, and conveyed to him the
startling intelligence that a "haunt"--a Northern boy would have called
it a ghost--had been seen at General Gordon's barn. It looked exactly
like old Jordan, the negro, who had buried the treasure in the
potato-patch; but of course it couldn't be old Jordan, for he had never
been heard of since he ran away with the Yankees, and everybody
believed him to be dead. Godfrey listened in great amazement to his
son's story, and, to satisfy himself of the truth of it, went up to the barn,
with his rifle for company. He had not been there many minutes before
he received convincing proof that Dan had told the truth, for he saw the
object with his own eyes--a feeble old negro, dressed in a white
plantation suit, and wearing a battered plug hat, who limped along in
plain view of him, and finally disappeared, no one could tell how or
when. That was enough for Godfrey. He started for home at the top of
his speed, and scarcely dared to venture out of doors that night. He had
an appointment with Clarence Gordon at dark, but he would not have
passed that barn in his present state of mind, if he had known that he
could make twice eighty thousand dollars by it.

Bright and early the next morning, Clarence came down to see why he
had not kept his promise, and talked to him in