“And with a rope around my waist I slid down into the mound. It did not require but a few moments to satisfy me that we had discovered buried treasure.
“Yes, sir, gold! Yellow, glittering stuff, enough to make us all millionaires. I own that I was near crazy at the time. There it lay in bars and ingots. All that was left was to take it away to civilization.
“I crawled out of the mound and then we all sat down and discussed the matter. There were fifteen of us.
“Bill Langley proposed a fair division. Of course this was satisfactory. Then it was decided to take the gold out of the mound.
“The gold fever was upon us; we worked like badgers at it. In a few hours we had a heap of the stuff piled up beside the mound. Then nightfall began to threaten. We suspended work, and it was decided not to return to camp, but remain on the spot until morning. There was not the remotest chance of anybody’s purloining the gold, yet all wanted to stay there.
“However, much of our necessary utensils were at the old camp. It was about three miles distant. At length Bill Langley and I decided to return for them and come back in the morning.
“So we set out for the old camp, and reached there an hour later, much fatigued. We lit a fire and sat down by it; but we could not sleep.
“All we could do was to talk about the treasure and what golden plans we could lay for the future. Midnight came and passed.
“Then I began to feel a bit drowsy, and suggested turning in; but the words hadn’t left my lips when Bill gave a quick start.
“’Great gunnels, mate!’ he exclaimed; ’what in the Old Harry was that?’