“O, you can’t tell. It’s so covered with rust.”
“Countersunk rivets on an iron plate would be quite concealed if they were all covered with scales of rust.”
“Come, I’ll dig more on this side,” said Bruce, taking up his pickaxe again. A few blows directed against the other side served to loosen the earth there, and the eager boys soon threw it out, and laid bare more of the surface. Bruce worked away with his pickaxe at the same time. There was now room for only two to work. The others looked on with beating hearts.
“Hallo!” cried Bruce, suddenly.
“What?” asked Bart.
“Why, the top’s loose!”
“Loose! Hurrah! We can lift it off then, and get into the box.”
Bruce said nothing, but stooped down. Bart, who had been digging, stooped down, too. The other boys crowded around.
Bruce dug his fingers into the earth by the edge of the iron, and rattled it with his hands. Then he tried to lift it up.
It moved!