“What! didn’t ye never hear tell about Daddy Cobb’s diggin’ for a chist o’ treasure? Thought everybody’d heerd o’ that. There’s some kind o’ magic about it, hanged if I can explain jest what. The chist has a habit o’ shiftin’ its hidin’-place in the ground, so that though Daddy’s a’most got holt on ’t five or six times, it has allers slipped away from him in the most onaccountable and aggravatin’ manner. He has a way o’ findin’ where it is, by some hocus-pocus, hazel-wands for one thing; then he goes with his party of diggers at night,—for there’s two or three more fools big as him,—and they make a circle round the place, and one reads the Bible and holds the lantern while the rest dig, and if nobody speaks or does anything to break the charm, there’s a chance ’at they may git the treasure. Once Daddy says they had actooally got a holt on’t,—a big, square iron chist,—but jest’s they was liftin’ on’t out he jammed his finger, and said ‘Oh!’ and by hokey! if it didn’t disappear right afore their face an’ eyes quicker ’n a flash o’ lightnin’!”
Jack listened intently to this story. He did not believe that his treasure was the one Daddy Cobb had been digging for so long, but might it not elude his grasp in the same way?
CHAPTER VI
“ABOUT THAT HALF-DOLLAR.”
At every sound of wheels Jack started; and more than once he imagined he heard a wagon stop at the gate. Still no deacon; would he never return? Jack watched the clock, and thought he had never seen the pointers move so slowly.
Three or four times he went to the door to listen; and at last he walked down to the gate. It was bright, still moonlight, only the crickets and katydids were singing, and now and then an owl hooted in the woods or a raccoon cried.
“There’s a buggy coming!” exclaimed Jack. He could hear it in the distance; he could see it dimly coming down the moonlit road. “It’s Mr. Chatford!” He knew the deacon’s peculiar “Ca dep!” (get up) to the horse.
“That you, Jack?” said the deacon, driving in.
“Yes; thought I’d come down and shut the gate after you,” replied Jack.