Such was the reception these boatmen met with at the hands of Mrs. Brophy, whose husband, a short, thick-shouldered, bullet-headed son of the Emerald Isle, with a short, black pipe in his wide mouth, and in his shirt and trousers, came to the door and seated himself on the sill.
"Is it Misther Kidd's money ye's is afther?" he enquired, querulously, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. "Much luck may ye's have finding it. Divel a cint meself iver saw uv Misther Kidd's money, an' we've liv'd here this two years an' more. It's mighty little uv any other man's money—not enough, troth, to get bread for the childher—have we seen."
The boatmen enquired of Mr. Brophy if he could tell them where the devil's sounding-stone was. There was indeed a superstition amongst these poor people that Kidd had buried his money under a rock he gave that name to; and that there was an agreement with his satanic majesty, who was to stand guard over it, and allow only those who had the talisman to lay hands on it. This talisman, it was also believed, would open the devil's conscience, and cause him to lift the stone and unlock the great iron chest containing the gold and silver. Loud noises, it was said, were heard under the stone, which was the voice of the devil rebuking the follies of the men who came in search of this treasure. These poor people also believed that Kidd had murdered a woman in cold blood, and buried her under the same stone; that she would come to life when it was lifted; and that her ghost haunted the spot every night, and not less than a score of Dutchmen had seen it. The more religious of them declared that the ghost would hold communion only with a certain priest, who came once a year, at midnight, to invoke in an unknown tongue a blessing on her troubled spirit.
"The divel's soundin'-stone is it ye's wants?" ejaculated Mr. Brophy. "Shure, it's beyant—a mile, about—perhaps two—perhaps not so many—perhaps more. Much good may it do ye's when ye's finds it. An', an', an', the ghost standin' there ivery night." Mr. Brophy resumed his pipe, and after two or three whiffs resumed: "Ye's may dig holes till yer childhers wears rags, as mine does, an' not a mouthfull uv bread in the house, an' not a cint of Misther Kidd's money ye'd git. An' the ghost standin' there, too!"
Being satisfied that these poor people had nothing to give them to eat, the boatmen presented the woman with two dollars and what liquor there was in their flask, telling her to spend the money in bread for the children. This little act of kindness so softened the poor woman's feelings that she invoked numerous blessings on their heads; adding at the same time that it was more money than she had seen for a month, though persons in search of Kidd's gold and silver had beset her house.
The men now returned to their boat, and breakfasted on what they had in their haversack. And when it was nearly noon, and they were beginning to get alarmed, Chapman returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and accompanied them to a comfortable farm-house, about a mile up the bank. Here they found Hanz, very contentedly smoking his pipe, in the company of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an ill-favored, talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing, and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it would not put clothes on his back.
Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing, however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was, then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune.
The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined; and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity. His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style and in great good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover.
The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher, extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons kind enough to honor them with their investments.
The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a table on which stood a bucket half filled with what appeared to be ugly black sand. Just as they entered Mr. Gusher rose from his seat and exclaimed: