“Ten acres is a heap o’ ground, pop,” said he.
“Never mind that, Dannie,” replied his father, scratching a match on his shirt sleeve and applying it to the bowl of his pipe. “Thar’s a bar’l with eighty thousand dollars in gold an’ silver into it buried somewhar about here, an’ we must have it if we have to dig up the whole state of Missip. Laws a massy! what’s the matter of ye?” he exclaimed; for Dan had stooped down and seized his arm with a gripe that almost brought from him a cry of pain.
Dan stooped still lower, pointed with his finger and said in a husky whisper,
The tone in which these words were uttered sent the cold chills all over Godfrey. His breath came in short, quick gasps, his knees knocked together, and he slowly and painfully arose from the ground, turning his head as he did so, and looking in the direction Dan pointed. There, almost within reach of them, so close apparently that he could have touched it with the shovel, if he had been so disposed, was a little ball of fire which glowed and sparkled as he looked at it, then faded almost entirely away for an instant, and anon glowed and sparkled with greater brilliancy than before. Godfrey’s under jaw dropped down, his pipe fell to the ground and for a moment he gazed as if fascinated; then he reached for the shovel, and with long, noiseless steps glided across the field toward the lane, closely followed by Dan, who hardly dared to wait long enough to pick up his coat and hat, so frightened was he. Neither of them spoke until they were fairly in the “big road” which led to the cabin, and then Dan said, in a suppressed whisper:
“What was it, pop?”
“It’s one of them haunts with eyes of fire like I used to see last fall,” replied his father, looking back to make sure that the object, whatever it was, was not following him.
“But this only had one eye, pop!”
“No odds. They all b’long to the same breed, whether they’ve got one eye or a dozen. Ole nigger Hudson told me he seed one onct that was all eyes all over his head. Dannie, that was the fust time I ever was clost enough to one of them critters to see him wink!”
“Say, pop,” exclaimed Dan, suddenly, “I reckon we’d best give up lookin’ fur that thar bar’l, kase mebbe that’s ole Jordan’s haunt come back to keep folks away from it.”