"Yes, Father. They were digging, in their shirtsleeves, only the captain was doing all the work. I thought it was strange, Father; so I crawled along softly and hid myself where I could see what they were doing. When the hole was dug they went into the trees. The Viscount trod on the brim of my hat, but he didn't see it. They came back with some flat boxes and put them in the hole. The captain went to work very hard to fill the hole up again; but the Viscount swore at him and said: 'The more dirt you chuck in now the more we shall have to shovel out to-morrow night.' So they filled it in loose and covered it up with dead leaves. Then they hid the spades in the bushes and went away."
"And you didn't?"
"I stayed, Father. I knew they had been burying what was not theirs. So I found one of the spades and unburied the boxes and carried them on my head to a sand-pit that I'd tumbled into when I climbed over the wall. I buried them there, in loose sand, where one place looked just like another."
"That was clever," said Antonio. "Go on."
"All the next day I lay hiding, with only one piece of bread to eat and water to drink. But I was glad I hadn't gone away. At night they came again, with ropes and canvas. They began talking about some mules, and the Viscount kept mentioning a name that I can't remember; only I know it wasn't Portuguese. Then they raked off the dead leaves and started digging. But, oh, Father! I wonder they didn't find me and skin me alive, because when they saw the hole was empty, I nearly burst myself to keep from laughing. They would have heard me, sure enough, if they hadn't fallen to quarreling. In the end the Viscount said the captain had stolen a march on him, and he called him a—"
"Never mind what he called him."
"At that the captain struck the Viscount in the face. I was frightened then. I thought there was going to be murder. But all of a sudden they made up the quarrel and the captain said: 'What are we going to do?' The Viscount said: 'Those thieves of monks have hidden it, and we'll find it, or some of them shall swing for it.' But the captain said: 'What if we can't find it? What about the Government?' The Viscount said: 'That's easy. When the van and the men come from Lisbon we'll bring them to this hole. We can take our Bible oath, both of us, that we buried it here ourselves, for fear of treachery among the men: and we can swear that we haven't the ghost of an idea who has taken it away. But we'll find it to-night if we search till morning; and next week it shall be in England, safe and sound.' Then they took the lantern to begin hunting: so I picked myself up and slipped off to the sand-pit."
"And they didn't follow?"
"Not at once, Father. They did not come there till day-break. But the sun the day before had dried all the sand the same color. They stuck in sticks both sides of the right place: but they didn't find it."
José ceased.