“What then?”
“They’ll follow us, and see.”
“Very well. We’re not going to work in secret this time. We’re working now in broad day. We haven’t any mineral rod, nor any magic ceremonies. We’re merely a plain, hard-working crowd; not of money-diggers, but of archaeologists. We’re not digging for pots of gold, but for curiosities and relics of the Acadian French. That’s our position now, my boy; and a very much more dignified position it is than the one we occupied when we were making fools of ourselves the other night.”
So spoke Bruce, who felt more keenly than the others the shame of that panic, for the reason that he had been more deeply touched. Since then he had, over and over again, vindicated his courage most nobly, on occasions, too, when the exercise of that courage could only be accomplished by a supreme effort of his strong spirit; yet, in spite of this, he felt galled at the recollection of that night, and could not allude to it without bitterness.
“Well,” said Phil, “if Jiggins, and Bogud, and the other lot are very inquisitive, I’ll invite them up, and we can get them to do the digging.”
“That’s a very sensible way of viewing it,” said Bart. “Yes, that’s just what we’ll do. For my part, I’d rather have them come than not, for, if they were to dig, our curiosity would be satisfied all the same, while our various muscles would not have to submit to such very violent exertion as is called forth by the unpleasant process of digging with a spade in such abominably hard ground.”
“Well, Bart,” said Bruce, “as soon as you’ve taken breath after that long-winded sentence, we’ll start.”
Up jumped Bart at this, and the others followed his example.
They went down to the Academy and obtained spades and a pickaxe without any difficulty. Shouldering these they paraded about the yard, in the hope of attracting attention. But to their great disappointment they didn’t attract any attention whatever. The boys were all away, some in front, some out for a walk. So they came to the conclusion that they would have to do their own digging.
“At any rate,” said Bart, as they walked back up the hill, “one comfort is, that we dug up the place before, and this time the ground will be softer.”