“Yes, there is, really. Come down here and see for yourself. There’s plenty of room for both you and me.”
Trembling with excitement, Fritz jumped down beside his brother, who, stooping down in the crevice of the gully, had discovered a cavity in the rock further in the face of the cliff. This the fringe of the now destroyed tussock-grass had previously hidden from view as they ascended and descended the ladder-way; else they must have noticed the place the very first time they came up to the tableland from the valley below. It was exactly facing the ledge from whence they climbed on to the plateau; so, had it not been then covered over, they could not have failed to see it.
The cavity, which had been probably worn away by the water trickling down, was like a little grotto; and there, piled on the bare rock, were hundreds of coins!
These were quite bright, strange to say, although this circumstance was most likely owing to the action of the fire that had burnt the tussock-grass; for, some heavy iron clamps and hinges, that had evidently belonged to the box which contained the coins originally and had been consumed at the same time, lay on either side of the golden treasure. A number of the coins, too, if any further proof was needed, were fused together in a solid lump.
With eyes dilated with joy, the brothers gazed at the mine of wealth, hardly daring to believe that what they saw was real.
Then, Fritz put out his hands and touched the heap.
“It is there—I feel it!” he exclaimed. “We are not dreaming?”
“I’m sure I’m not,” said Eric, laughing with delight. “Why, it is a regular fortune—it will beat all that we have earned by our sealing!”
Fritz took up one of the coins and examined it carefully. He had some knowledge of numismatics from his mercantile education in Herr Grosschnapper’s office, that worthy merchant trading to all parts of the globe and having considerable dealings with foreign monies.
“It is a doubloon,” he explained to his brother after studying it a bit. “The treasure consists of old Spanish coins that must have lain here for years.”