"Hullo!" cried Jack, who heard the sound.
"Only a stone, I'm afraid!" said I, trembling so that I could hardly raise my spade. Jack stopped work to watch.
"Your first blood!" he said. "Dig again and see; if there are honours, they shall be yours!"
There were honours. Half impotent with excitement, I dug again.
It was no stone. Trembling, I cleared the clayey soil from the object, whatever it might be, and revealed a vessel of hardware.
"Pull it out, pull it out, man!" said Jack; "don't stand quaking there!"
I made an effort, and removed the thing and handed it to Jack; I felt cold and faint with the excitement. I could only just see out of my eyes sufficiently to recognise that the object I had found was a large earthen jar, corked and sealed round.
Jack scrambled out of the hole and gave me a hand; I climbed out in a dream.
"Open it," he said.
"No—you," I gasped. I sat down and watched, only half alive.