They went out together into the orchard.
"Now which tree is it under?" asked the wife.
John scratched his head and looked very sheepish. "I'm
blessed if I know!"
"Oh, you foolish fellow," said the wife. "Why didn't
you take the trouble to notice?" 5
"I did notice," said he. "I saw the exact tree in my
dream, but now there's so many of them, they muddle
it all."
"Well, I think you're stupid," said the wife angrily.
"You ought to have cut a nick in the right one while you 10
were there."
"That may be," answered John; "but now I see that I'll
have to begin with the first tree and keep on digging till I
come to the one with the treasure under it."
This made the wife lose all hope; for there were eighty 15
apple trees and a score of cherry trees. She heaved a sigh
and said: "Well, I guess if you must, you must. But
mind you don't cut any of the roots."
John was in no good humor. He abused the trees with
all the bad words he could think of. 20
"What difference does it make if I cut all the roots?
The old fagots aren't worth a penny apiece. The whole
lot of them don't bear a bushel of good apples. In father's
time they used to bear wagonloads of choice fruit. I wish
they were every one dead!" 25