the two halves of this le
“Well, I wish we had the other part of that letter!” cried John Jerome, his eyes sparkling. “Somebody has been in this part of the country looking for hidden treasure!”
“It appears that that is what the whole thing is about, but it isn’t in this part of the country,” said Ree, more quietly. “Don’t you see, in the very beginning it says, ‘Buried near Philadel’? Why, the rest of that word, which is cut away, with the other half of the letter, would make it Philadelphia, of course.”
“My! but I’d like to stumble onto that chest, just the same,” was John’s reply. “Why, the letter tells of gold and silver and jewels—maybe it is pirates, Ree! For pity’s sake, let’s read it through again!”
Much less excited than his companion, Ree went over the writing once more, trying with John, but in vain, to supply the missing words at the end of each line. They could make out nothing definite, though the more they studied the more certain they were that some one had written a description of the hiding place of certain money and valuables, and then for some reason cut the paper in two.
The mystery about it all and the fascination which the possibility of finding hidden treasure has for every one, kept the two boys poring over the writing and talking of it much longer than they thought. Time passed so quickly that half the forenoon was gone ere they could put the subject by and prepare to resume their journey.
His brain cooler and his thoughts more calm than John’s, as he continued to think of the mysterious document, a happy idea came to Ree’s mind and he wondered that he had not thought of it before. Why not try, with the aid of Ring, to learn just where the silver snuff box had lain? There might be something to afford some clue to the owner of the box close by, or it might be that he had been right in suggesting that some poor fellow lay cold in death not far away.
Without delay Kingdom told John of his idea, and filled with a variety of expectations, hopes and fears, that young man hailed the thought with delight. Ring was called, and the silver box held where he could see and smell it.
“Take it back, you rascal! Take it where you found it!” commanded Ree, talking that tack with the dog, because he knew Ring would understand better than if he asked him where he had found the box.
John joined in the command, and a look of understanding coming to the dog’s eyes, though the poor fellow showed that he thought he was being scolded for having done something wrong, he seized the box in his teeth and trotted away.