One Sunday morning, a few days later, Toby, dressed for church, sauntered across the road and, skirting the boat shed, went on down to the wharf where the Urnove lay snuggled against the spiles. It was a sparkling-blue morning with a perceptible tinge of autumn in the crisp air, and from the end of the stone pier he could see quite plainly the shore for miles to the northward. But he didn’t look abroad very long, for a sound below caused him to drop his eyes to the boat. In the stern, leaning over with his gaze seemingly intent on the muddy bottom of the shallow cove, puffing lazily at his old briar pipe, sat Long Tim.
Long Tim was attired in his Sunday best, which included a very high collar—which he called a “choker”—and a flaming red tie. Also, Sunday meant a pair of shiny and extremely tight boots to Long Tim, boots which, as Toby well knew, squeaked remonstrance all the way down the church aisle. Long Tim was so intent on his task of apparently studying the water that he had no knowledge of Toby’s presence until a chip struck lightly on the brim of his carefully brushed, but ancient derby. Then he looked up slowly and winked.
“What are you looking for?” asked Toby.
Long Tim shifted his position, felt solicitously of one boot and smiled. “Money,” he answered.
“Money? In the water?”
“Well, I’ll tell you, Toby. I calculate it looks funny to you, because you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find money floating around in this cove, now would you?”
“I never have,” replied the boy.
“Well, now I have.” Long Tim watched for Toby’s expression of surprise and then went on with a chuckle. “Yes, sir, ’long about two months ago, or maybe a little more, I was standin’ just about where you be now, and I looked down in the water and see something green a-floatin’ round. Well, sir, it looked mighty like a piece o’ money; paper, o’ course. Says I, ‘It can’t be an’ so it ain’t, but if it is you might as well have it as the fishes.’ So I reached me a pole and pulled it out. And what do you suppose it was?”
“A two-dollar bill,” said Toby rather faintly.
Long Tim nodded. “Ezactly, though I don’t know how you guessed at the de-nom-ination o’ it. Yes, sir, a nice, new two-dollar bill. Queer, wa’n’t it? So since then I sometimes comes down and takes a look. If there’s one two-dollar bill a-floatin’ around this here cove, like enough there’s another, and like enough some day I’ll find it! Anyway, it ain’t what you’d call hard work, now, is it?”