"'I don't know,' said I. 'But as the Polly Ann is only ten years old, and these coins are near two hundred, if they are a day, why, it doesn't stand to reason they were in the brig. However, we will soon see. If they came out of her, there's more inside. Come, we will look.'
"We crept inside the old hull and examined carefully among her shattered timbers and twisted bolts, and spent two hours in prying up the planks inside the bow and along the bottom, but at last, tired and breathless, gave it up as a bad job, and came out as empty-handed as we went in.
"'I told you so,' said I. 'They never sailed the sea in the Polly Ann.'
"We spent the afternoon in counting our coins, finding we had between three and four hundred of them, and we grew quite hilarious over our Christmas gift, as we styled it, and speculated in vain as to where the coins could have come from.
"The next morning Bethel said to me:
"'I've been thinking half the night about those coins, and I remember my father used to tell of a Spanish vessel that went ashore somewhere along here when he was a boy, and was gradually washed to pieces; and, do you know, I've an idea these pieces have been cast up by the sea from the old wreck. It's curious, however, that we never found any of them till this brig came plowing up the beach with her nose.'
"While we were talking, two of the children came in with several of the pieces, which they had found at the water's edge, exactly like those we had picked up the day before.
"'I tell you, sir,' cried Bethel excitedly, 'my guess was right. I believe that old Spaniard lies buried in the sand right where the Polly Ann has stuck her bow in the beach. Man alive, there may be millions down there!'
"We rushed to the beach, and with shovels began to dig up the sand vigorously all about the wreck.
"Every now and then we came across another coin, which encouraged us tremendously, and we worked until we had dug a hole big enough to hold an ox cart.