"Do you say you are not?"
"I do say so! Leopold thinks the money belongs to the heirs of the man who buried it on the beach; and he is going to try to find them."
"That alters the case," replied the squire, more mildly. "I hope the man's heirs will get the money for it belongs to them."
"I hope everybody will get what belongs to him," said Stumpy; but the remark was too indefinite to be appreciated by his amiable grandfather.
"You have no right to a dollar of this money, Stumpy; and if you touch it, I want you to understand that it will be stealing."
"I have nothing to do with the money. Le Bennington found it, and he knows what to do with it. If he chooses to give me some of it, I will take it fast enough."
Squire Moses and Ethan were both satisfied, so far as Stumpy was concerned; and they were rejoiced to know that Leopold intended to keep the gold until he could find the heirs of the man who had committed it to the sand.
"Susan," said Squire Moses, as he turned to depart, "I told you that you might stay in this house till the first of August; and so you may; but I am going to foreclose the mortgage right off, so that I can get legal possession sooner. It won't make any difference to you."
The old miser did not wait to hear any reply to this announcement; but the tears dropped from the widow's eyes as the door closed upon the hard old man. The squire and Ethan walked down to the main street, talking with every one they met about the treasure, protesting that it ought to be kept for the heirs of the rightful owner, and manufacturing public sentiment which should compel the landlord of the Sea Cliff House and his son to pursue this course. It is true that the people of Rockhaven were very much surprised to hear Squire Moses and his son preaching such a doctrine; but they were willing to accept it, for it seemed to be just and right that the heirs should have what plainly belonged to them.
Unknown to them, and not yet with the entire approbation of his father, Leopold was their ally in directing public sentiment. After dinner, the parlor of the Sea Cliff House was filled by the New Yorkers and others who desired to hear the narrative of the finding of the hidden treasure. Leopold, in his best clothes, washed, dressed, and combed for a great occasion, appeared at the door of the parlor with Harvey Barth's diary in his hand. Stumpy, who had come over to see him in regard to the exciting topic, followed him, and took a back seat in one corner of the room. The money-digger was not a little abashed when he saw so many pairs of eyes directed towards him; but he commenced his story, and soon recovered his self-possession. He began with the wreck of the Waldo, for the New Yorkers knew little or nothing of this exciting event. He then came to the appearance of Harvey Barth at the Cliff House, and detailed all the incidents relating to the diary, the visit of Miss Sarah Liverage, and the finding of the journal when the chimney was pulled down.