“Sovereigns!” cried the first speaker; “must be four or five hundred of ’em.”
Tom’s heart thumped against his ribs.
“Vere shall ve cache our riches?” asked the foreigner. “Eet ees not for long, but ve must get ze place of safety. Oui.”
“That’s so,” replied the other. “Along the bank in the scrub ’ere’s as good as anywhere. We don’t want to go too far in. We’ll leave the boat just as we found her.”
They stumbled along the edge.
The foreigner carried the bag, and the other man went ahead with the lantern.
“It ain’t good to hang round any longer than we can help,” he said, presently. “Somebody might see the light. There’s a myrtle with a hollow butt about here somewhere. Let’s see! Yes, here it is. This is good enough for now.”
“Oui, zat vill do,” agreed the Frenchman.
Tom and Dave, looking through the bushes, saw two shadowy figures apparently scraping at the foot of a tree!