"Greatest discovery what was ever made. There is nothing like it in history. I tell you it is a great thing, gen-tle-men!" Here he raised his right hand, and then lowering it ran his fingers into the dark sand, and drew out a number of discolored Mexican and Spanish dollars. "Wis zat—what is in zat bucket, gen-tle-mens—and ze ouse of Topman and Gusher (me) is on a solid basis, as you shall see." Here he rang a dozen or two of the discolored dollars on the table, adding, "Zis Kidd Discovery Company is one zing so great as you ever did see, gen-tle-men."
"And we are indebted to this good, honest old man for all of it—I should say," rejoined Chapman, checking himself, "for selling us the secret." Hanz had been smoking his pipe quietly, and seeming to take but little interest in what was going on. Chapman now slapped him on the shoulder violently, and shook his hand. "We are indebted to you for this great and successful enterprise, eh? See the fortune now, don't you?"
"Perhaps I toes, und maybe I ton't," replied Hanz, relieving his mouth of the pipe. "I shees t' shand, und I shees t' tirty tollars—how I know where he comes from, eh?" Hanz began to have his suspicion aroused, and to feel that he had got into queer company. "T' tollar might get back to t' tivel when you gets him, if I vas only back mit mine Angeline!" said he, shaking his head doubtingly.
"It is very generous of our friend here," interposed Holbrook, running his fingers through his tufty red hair, and looking askance through his spectacles at Hanz, "to affect that he cares nothing about our discovery. Very kind of him. But we found the treasure exactly where he said it was buried."
Hanz shook his head, and looked with an air of surprise at the speaker. "If I tells you where dat gold und dat tirty shilver be's buried, und you goes dar und finds him, ten I be's asleep, und ton't know what I tells you."
"Te gen-tle-man," interposed Gusher, going off into a rhapsody of delight, "is very modest. It is very good of him to be so modest. But he, I am sure, will accept ze thanks of Topman and Gusher. Tis Kidd, gen-tle-men—he must be one jolly, generous fellow. I loves tis gen-tle-man Kidd. He bury his dollars here in bushel baskets full. We find him, eh?" Here he again ran his hand into the sand, and drawing out several more discolored dollars threw them on the table. "Te great big Kidd Discovery Company is one great fixed fact—one grand success, gen-tle-men. When ze customer come wiz his money, we shall say here is ze zing what makes you one grand fortune; invest your money and put your trust in Topman and Gusher."
Here, indeed, was the capital stock on which the enterprising firm of Topman and Gusher had started a great and flourishing joint-stock company. The boatmen listened to what they had heard with surprise and astonishment. They, in short, firmly believed that what they had seen in the bucket was treasure taken from the place in which it had been buried by Kidd.