Pete produced a big roll of sacking which, on being distributed, proved to consist of burlap bags, one for each member of the party.
“Here we are, on Tom Tiddler’s ground,
Picking up gold and silver!”
So sang the boys, as sacks in hand they rushed forward.
“This girdle for me!” cried Jack, holding up a belt of golden coins with great, rough rubies encrusting it.
“This goblet takes my eye,” quoth Ralph, stowing a golden vessel, likewise jewel-encrusted, into his receptacle.
Besides the wrought gold there were ingots of gold in the rough, silver articles of all sorts, and all gem-studded. The heap blazed and flashed with a hundred fires as the torches gleamed upon it. They all worked like beavers and before long the sacks were full with a burden that was quite heavy enough for any of the party to wish to carry.
“Well, this will be all for this trip,” decided the professor when their task was completed, “and now for the open air.”
With the scientist leading the way, his long legs fairly sagging under his burden, they began to retrace their footsteps, fingering the thread as they went.
“What should you estimate the value of this haul at?” Ralph asked, as they once more passed the portal.
“At a rough guess at least $500,000, apart from the value of the collection as antiquities,” said the professor. “It is without doubt the most valuable archeological collection ever stumbled upon.”