"Ah! 'tis full o' nothing, seemingly. If 'twas only tay, now, or bacca that we med chaw; but 'tis a'most as light as a feather."
He prised up the lid of the box with his knife. The wood was thin, and crumbled away at the touch of the steel. There was something pink beneath, and the removal of the lid disclosed a quantity of silk, which, when it was unfolded, proved to be many yards in length.
"Only think o't!" said Sam. "Don't it feel plum! Oh! what a noble garment 't'ud make for Maidy Susan!"
"'Tis much too good for her," said Dick. "It would suit Mother better."
"True, 'tis fit for queens and other high females, but the Mistress be gettin' a old ancient person, and 't'ud look more fitty on a nesh young frame. Ah me! it bean't no good for high or low, this side o' that dark fearsome hole in the ground."
"Let us see if there are any more boxes," said Dick. "And let me tell you, Mother is only forty-five, so mind what you say, Sam."
"Well, forty-five is more 'n double twenty, can 'ee deny it? When I be forty-five, I shall be a old aged feller with a beard and a shiny sconce like Feyther, and he don't care a cuss what raiment he do wear."
Further search brought to light several boxes like the first, containing silks of various hue, and laces which even to Dick's inexperience appeared valuable. The materials seemed to be in as good a condition as when they left Lyons or Nice, and without doubt represented a considerable sum of money. But to Dick, as he contemplated them, they suggested a more immediate and urgent use than the turning into money. The wood of the barrels appeared to be sound; it had been preserved from rotting by their spirituous contents. By breaking them up into their separate staves, he would have at his disposal enough timber to make a bridge. The staves were two feet long and about five inches broad; ten or twelve lengths would be required to span the gap, and allow sufficient grip. The "sling-stuff" round the barrels, as he had already proved, was too friable to be of any value for lashing, but the silk, torn into strips, might answer this purpose.
"Take hold of the end of this," he said to Sam, handing him a length of the material, "and pull as hard as you can."
The test proved that the silk was capable of enduring a heavy direct strain, and if this were so in the piece, it would be still stronger when wound many times about the wood.