"I thought of the other end of the flower-bed, between the big rose-bush and the lilac."
"That's the very place I had in my mind," declared the old man. "They won' never fine it dyah!"
"We know a good place," said the boys both together; "it's a heap better than that. It's where we bury our treasures when we play 'Black-beard the Pirate.'"
"Very well," said their mother; "I don't care to know where it is until after to-morrow, anyhow. I know I can trust you," she added, addressing Balla.
"Yes'm, you know dat," said he, simply. "I'll jes' go an' git my hoe."
"The garden hasn't got a roof to it, has it, Unc' Balla?" asked Willy, quietly.
"Go 'way from here, boy," said the old man, making a sweep at him with his hand. "That boy ain' never done talkin' 'bout that thing yit," he added, with a pleased laugh, to his mistress.
"And you ain't ever given me all those chickens either," responded Willy, forgetting his grammar.
"Oh, well, I'm gwi' do it; ain't you hear me say I'm gwine do it?" he laughed as he went out.
The boys were too excited to get sleepy before the silver was hidden. Their mother told them they might go down into the garden and help Balla, on condition that they would not talk.