The man who was on watch had heard all the conversation, and his excitement was quite as great as that of the others.
“I’ve got a piece of paper here, an’ we’ll use it to help out with the matches.”
As he and his mate twisted this firmly to prevent it from burning too quickly, and then ignited one end, Gil held forth the supposed treasure, and loud exclamations of joy and surprise burst from the lips of all, as they saw what at first glance seemed to be a mass of sparkling fire in the boy’s hand.
“They’re diamonds!” Gil cried, with yet greater excitement. “A whole string of them, and there must be more that’s valuable where these came from.”
Not until the paper had been entirely consumed did either member of the party cease to gaze at the wondrously brilliant gems, and then all realized that they had neglected to look for wood with which to make a torch.
“We must use more matches,” Nelse said, breathlessly, “and if we can’t find wood here, one must venture out, for we’re bound to know what is in that hole before morning.”
“I reckon we’ll stay right in this spot till Jenkins comes back, seein’s how we’re prisoners so long as the rope is at the bottom of the shaft,” Gil replied, grimly; “but it won’t be so very hard to wait, now we know the treasure has been found. I wonder how much more there is?”
“Did you feel anything else?”
“It seemed as if there were a lot of packages, done up in rotten sail-cloth as these were. I felt around some, but didn’t dare to move very much, for fear of getting another fall.”
“Was the place a regular cave, or only a hole?”