“Gentlemen,” said he, “when first we set out upon that treasure hunt I took with me two bottles of acid. One was a test for the presence of argenic compounds, that is, silver, and the other for what is popularly designated gold. In the excitement of the discovery of the chest, to my everlasting humiliation, be it said, I used the wrong acid. The reaction I got proved the presence of copper. I thought it was gold.”
After this extraordinary speech of self-abnegation the Parson bowed his head in shame. It was at least a minute before he could muster the courage to go on. Truly that had been a frightful blunder for an analytical chemist to make.
“To-night,” he continued at last, “I was testing for potassium, and I reached for that bottle of gold reagent. I expected to find it half empty. I found it full, and I knew in an instant that I could not have used a drop of it. Gentlemen, that told me the story of my error. I shall do penance for it as long as I may live.”
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SEVEN MAKE A NEW MOVE.
“For Heaven’s sake, man, what has happened?”
The cause of this exclamation was Dewey. At the moment his uniform was dirty and torn, and his face was far from handsome. It was bruised and blue in lumps, and there were ugly places of a bright red, lending a startling effect indeed.
The speaker was Mark. He had been sitting at his tent door rubbing his gun diligently, but he sprang up in alarm when he espied the other.
“What on earth has happened to you, Dewey?” he repeated.
Dewey laughed to himself, in spite of his sorry condition.