With jokes and badinage such as this the young man passed the luncheon, dinner, or meal-hour--whichever it should be called--away. Indeed, at this time, when the long-buried wealth of the past was being at last revealed to its ultimate heirs and possessors, he was anxious above all things to keep off the discussion of whose it was, and who was to have it and who was not. As has been suggested a little earlier, he saw, he knew--or felt almost positive that he saw and knew--what was the final disposition of all that the Key was now disgorging, only--the present was not the time to speak about that disposition to Barbara. So, as much as possible, he kept to other matters in connection with the task they were now engaged upon.
"Whoever they were," he went on meditatively, as the simple repast drew to an end, "who originally owned it all, they must almost certainly have been our country people. Although we don't either of us know what those coins are, we can at least see that they are mostly English, and all about one period, namely, Elizabeth's and her successor's, James. Now, let's see. Charles I. succeeded James, eh, Barbara?"
"Yes," said the girl. "Yes. At school we thought Charles I. the most interesting of all the English kings."
"Ah!" said Reginald; "well, I've heard other people say differently. Our chaplain in the Ianthe, for instance, used to wrangle with the paymaster for hours about him, and call him all kinds of names. However, let's put two and two together. Charles's was an uncomfortable sort of reign, for others besides himself, and all sorts of rumpusses were going on--people flying from England to America, et cetera. I wonder if the gentleman who owned all these things was one of those? He might be, you know, and have got drifted down here after making bad weather of it in the Atlantic; or the pirates--hem!--of his own day, Barbara--no allusions meant to respected ancestors!--might have seized on him--or--or--half a dozen things. I don't suppose we ever shall find out."
"No," she said, "I don't suppose we shall. Perhaps it's better that we never should. It might interfere with your enjoyment of it all."
Whereon Reginald laughed once more, while a beautiful but tell-tale blush came to the girl's face--possibly it had dawned on her, too, by now, how the ultimate possession of the treasure might be arranged!--and then they proceeded to inspect what remained.
CHAPTER XLI.
THE END.
What did remain in this big chest was now to be examined, and they observed that the same precautions had been taken in the way of coverings and wrappings as with all the previous finds.
"Which," said Reginald, descanting thereon as he unwound the wrappers, "shows one thing, if no more. It testifies that all the spoil belonged to the same individual, or individuals. But who was he, Barbara, who was she, or who were they? That's what I want to know."