It took us quite a long time. The gold was of the purest, and all was in Spanish doubloons.
It ran up to the very respectable sum of sixty thousand pounds. We took the men partly into our confidence, telling them that the money—we said nothing about the amount—had belonged to our ancestors, and therefore was ours; and that on the day when it was safely lodged in bank, the engineer should have a gift of one hundred and fifty pounds, the mate the same, and each of the sailors one hundred pounds. The announcement was received with a wild, ringing British cheer. Then things went on just as before.
Now there was more money buried in the island at the foot of another tree, but contrary to the account given by American papers, this did not amount to over ten thousand dollars; a goodly sum, however, for a man like Winkey to get his hands upon.
He was welcome to it as far as we were concerned. But the finding of it and the behaviour of Winkey afterwards make quite a little story all by themselves.
Winkey, it seems, had stolen a portion of our plans describing and locating the smaller portion of gold, which also lay at the foot of a tree. We had hardly sailed, it seems, ere he got hold of a certain Mr. Green (again the name is fictitious) and communicated the wonderful tidings to him. Then they employed another man to assist them to dig, and one night they all set out on their gold-hunting expedition. Their excitement was really feverish, and the old rye they consumed to banish nervousness only served to excite them more.
But it made them reckless.
Arrived by the weird old tree, they commenced operations at once, first with shovel and pick, and next with axes.
Gnarled and hard were the roots of that ancient king of the forest, and loudly rang the sound of the blows on the stillness of the night. Still they worked away with a will.
Not a great distance off from the spot where they were at work stands the farm of Mr. M. W. H. The unusual sound disturbed the good people there.
I quote from an American paper dated June 6, 1897, when I say:—