[CHAPTER XXVII]
A PERILOUS SEARCH
Surprise and disappointment held them all silent for a few moments after Jim Nestor had made the momentous discovery. Jerry was the first to speak, and he asked:
“Are you sure this is the place, Mr. Brill? Might you not be mistaken? There are so many big rocks, and from here I see another that looks something like a church.”
“No, this is the rock all right,” declared the prospector. “Look, here is where I left one of the sacks that I carried the nuggets in,” and from under a small pile of rocks that held it down he picked up a canvas bag.
“That’s right!” exclaimed Jim Nestor, scratching his head in perplexity. “But where is the gold?”
“That’s what we’ve got to find out!” exclaimed Ned.
“Are you sure this is the sack you left?” asked Bob of the prospector. “Maybe some of the grub-stakers dropped this here when they were searching for the gold.”
For answer Mr. Brill held out the sack, and silently pointed to the initials “H. B.” marked on it in ink.
“I put ’em there,” he said. “I’d know ’em anywhere. It was one of the three sacks I had the sixty nuggets in. I took the others away with me, but as they bulged out my pockets so, I left this one here, after I put the nuggets in a box. Oh, there’s no doubt that this is the place where I hid the gold.”
“But what has become of it?” asked Professor Snodgrass, who, now that he had found his snakes, consented to take an interest in other matters.